A chicken business processes poultry on two machines called eviscerators at its Mississippi facility. On May 31, 2021, an employee tasked with cleaning chicken parts and viscera from the eviscerators and areas around them suffered fatal injuries when he was caught in one of the machines. Following an inspection and investigation by Compliance Safety and Health Officer Patrick Whavers and Jermaine Davis, an authorized representative of the Secretary who was training at the time, OSHA issued a Citation and Notification of Penalty (Citation) on November 22, 2021, alleging serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. §§ 651-678 (Act). The business timely contested the Citation on December 7, 2021. The Court granted the motion on February 13, 2023. (Order Granting Mot. to Am. Compl.) In Citation 1, Item 1, the Secretary alleges facility violated 29 C.F.R. § 1910.145(c)(3) by allowing employees to place their “hands below rotating carousel of Meyn Maestro Eviscerator to remove chicken parts” without “post[ing] safety instructions warning employees of catch point and rotating parts hazards[, thereby] exposing employees to caught-in hazards.” In Citation 1, Item 2, the Secretary alleges a serious violation of the machine guarding standard at § 1910.212(a)(1) by “allow[ing] employees to routinely place hands below the rotating carousel of Meyn Maestro Eviscerator to remove chicken parts, [thereby] exposing employees to caught-in hazards.” The Secretary proposed a penalty of $13,653 for each item.
For the reasons set forth herein, the Court affirms the violations as serious and assesses a $13,653 penalty for each item.