Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC
Outcome
Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC settled OSHA citations for $164,814 after a 16-year-old sanitation worker was caught in and killed by a machine he was cleaning at the Hattiesburg, Mississippi poultry facility in July 2023 due to absent lockout/tagout procedures and machine guarding.
Details
Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC — 16-Year-Old Sanitation Worker Killed in Machine (2023–2024)
Outcome: A 16-year-old sanitation worker was caught in and killed by a machine he was cleaning at Mar-Jac Poultry's Hattiesburg, Mississippi facility in July 2023; the company settled OSHA citations for $164,814 and agreed to enhanced safety measures including monthly sanitation shift audits.
In July 2023, a 16-year-old worker employed on the sanitation shift at Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC's Hattiesburg, Mississippi poultry processing facility was cleaning a machine when he became caught in it and was fatally injured. OSHA's investigation found that the company had failed to implement proper lockout/tagout energy control procedures to de-energize and lock out the machine before the worker entered the cleaning zone, and that machine guarding was inadequate.
The company settled OSHA citations and agreed to pay $164,814 in penalties. As settlement terms, Mar-Jac Poultry was required to withdraw its contest of citations, implement enhanced supervisor safety training, update worker instruction on hazard controls, and conduct monthly safety audits specifically covering the sanitation shift. The presence of a 16-year-old worker in a machine-adjacent sanitation role also implicated potential child labor restrictions on hazardous occupations in food processing.
Primary Source: US Department of Labor announces settlement with Mississippi poultry facility after 16-year-old worker fatally caught in machinery
How Crucible Prevents This
Sanitation workers cleaning active poultry processing equipment — particularly when the workers are minors — require both machine-specific lockout/tagout procedures and age-appropriate task restrictions. Crucible's pre-shift compliance gate requiring verified energy isolation before any cleaning or sanitation task on powered equipment would directly address the lockout failure. A workforce composition tracking module flagging minor workers assigned to hazardous machine-adjacent tasks would add a second layer of protection.
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