The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited two meatpackers for failing to take measures to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus.
OSHA fined Smithfield Foods for failing to protect workers at their Sioux Falls, SD, plant, the maximum allowed by law of $13,494 after 1,294 workers became ill and four died this spring. Smithfield thinks the citation is “without merit and plans to contest it,” spokeswoman Keira Lombardo told Reuters. Lombardo said the company has spent $350 million related to protecting employees.
In a separate action, OSHA fined JBS USA $15,615 after 300 workers were sickened and seven died at its Greeley, CO, plant. The company stated when OSHA “provided guidance in late April, one month after the beginning of the citation time period, our previously implemented preventive measures largely exceeded any of their recommendations.”
The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) issued a statement regarding the fines. Julie Anna Potts, president and CEO of NAMI, stated, despite the “tardy and inconsistent” advice from the agency, “Meat and poultry processing companies quickly and diligently took steps to protect their workers.” Potts noted that the number of positive workers is trending downwards since the programs were put in place.
