Chicken processor hits more than $1.4M in OSHA penalties

Staff report

CANTON

A Troutman, N.C.-based chicken-processing company with Canton operations faces more than $1.4 million in fines for worker-safety and health violations this year.

Case Farms Processing Inc., a supplier of fast food and supermarket chicken, was recently penalized by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 16 violations at its Canton facility.

The safety failures resulted in two serious injuries to workers while they cleaned machines, OSHA said in a news release Tuesday.

A 17-year-old worker, employed by cleaning subcontractor Cal-Clean, had his left leg amputated from the knee down and a 24-year-old Case Farms employee lost two fingertips. Both workers were fired after the incidents.

OSHA cited Case Farms for two willful, 10 repeated and four serious safety violations with proposed penalties of $424,600 on Sept. 24. The agency penalized Cal-Clean’s owner, Callaghan and Callaghan, with $179,700 in fines Sept. 28, for two willful, five serious and three other-than-serious safety violations. Both companies were cited for exposing workers to amputation, fall, electrical and other serious hazards.

In August, OSHA placed Case Farms in the agency’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program, after it assessed $861,500 in penalties after investigations at the company’s Winesburg, Ohio facility.

Two other inspections are open at Case Farms’ Canton facility.

“While we do not deem it appropriate to comment on ongoing administrative matters, we do not agree with the negative characterizations that have been made about our company and our employees,” Case Farms said in a statement.

The company said in the past six months, its Ohio facilities received two awards for safety programs and achievements: a Certification of Recognition from the North American Meat Institute and an Achievement Award for Workplace Safety from the Stark County Safety Council and Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

The company said it will work with OSHA to address its concerns. “Our employees are our most-important resource, and we continue to focus on providing a safe and healthy work environment,” the company’s statement said.