Ohio Meat Processing Plant Faces $277,000 in Proposed Penalties for Safety Violations

A federal investigation into how a 35-year-old worker suffered severe leg burns, degloving of their foot and other injuries after falling into corrosive chemicals in May 2023 has found that an Ohio meat processing plant’s safety failures exposed employees to hazardous conditions.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the employee at Sugar Creek Packing Co. was changing bearings on a fan motor when they fell into a tree hangar machine used to sanitize and clean hanging meat racks at the company’s Washington Court House plant.

The agency cited the company for two repeat and six serious violations and one other-than-serious violation. OSHA has assessed Sugar Creek with $277,904 in proposed penalties.

OSHA found Sugar Creek lacked required energy control procedures, commonly known as lockout/tagout. The company also failed to make sure employees wore chemically resistant clothing and were trained to perform servicing and maintenance activities on the plant’s tree wash, belly press and drench cabinet. Such procedures and training would have protected workers from contact with hazardous chemicals and machine parts, OSHA said.

Source: OSHA