Smithfield Faces OSHA Fines
September 14, 2020 5:28AM CDT
TIJUANA, MEXICO – NOVEMBER 28: Workers wearing masks and gloves direct migrants entering a temporary shelter set up for members of the ‘migrant caravan’ on November 28, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. Many shelter residents complain of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions at the shelter which stands within sight of the U.S.-Mexico border. Some migrants will be reportedly moved to a new shelter soon and other have set up tents outside the shelter gates. Around 6,000 migrants from Central America have arrived in the city with the mayor of Tijuana declaring the situation a ‘humanitarian crisis’. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Federal regulators have cited Smithfield Foods for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus at the company’s Sioux Falls plant, an early hot spot for virus infections that hobbled American meatpacking plants. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that employees were working closely together and exposed to the coronavirus. The citation included the latest assessment of the virus’ impact at the Sioux Falls plant, with four workers killed by COVID-19, at least 1,294 infected and 43 hospitalized. Only two deaths among employees had been previously known. Smithfield Foods, which is based in Virginia, says it plans to contest the citation and $13,494 fine.
