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Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 10/22/08
The federal Department of Labor has cited Smithfield Packing Co. and QSI Inc., a company contracted to clean equipment, in an incident last spring in which a worker's arm was amputated.
Smithfield received a fine of $12,600, while QSI was fined $138,600, according to the Bladen Journal in Elizabethtown, N.C.
The worker was injured last March in a conveyor belt at Smithfield's plant in Tar Heel, N.C. Inspectors for the Labor Department's Division of Occupational Safety and Health noted that employees were exposed to the meshing point of gears while cleaning the equipment, and that they were not properly trained.
Smithfield was cited for not providing a safe working environment.
"The safety features were in place, but not to the level that they were looking for," Smithfield spokesman Dennis Pittman told Meatingplace.com. He noted that both companies have requested an informal conference with the DOL to discuss the penalties, steps taken to abate the violations and what the fines ultimately will be.
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