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A Mississippi poultry processing plant has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that requires it to pay $164,814 in fines and put in place enhanced safety measures following\u00a0the death of a 16-year-old boy at the facility<\/a>.<\/p>\n The agreement, announced Friday in a news release, comes after an investigation of Mar-Jac Poultry by the department\u2019s Occupational Safety and Health Administration into the death<\/a> of an underaged worker\u00a0who was pulled into a machine<\/a>\u00a0as they cleaned it July 14, 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cTragically, a teenage boy died needlessly before Mar-Jac Poultry took required steps to protect its workers,\u201d said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in Atlanta. \u201cThis settlement demands the company commit to a safer workplace environment and take tangible actions to protect their employees from well-known hazards. Enhanced supervision and increased training can go a long way toward minimizing risks faced by workers in meat processing facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMar-Jac was aware of these safety problems for years and had been warned and fined by OSHA, yet did nothing. Hopefully, Mar-Jac will follow through this time so that no other worker is killed in such a senseless manner,\u201d Jim Reeves, an attorney for the victim\u2019s family,\u00a0told WHLT-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n The victim\u2019s family sued Mar-Jac Poultry MS, LLC, and Onin Staffing earlier this year. The lawsuit alleges that Perez was killed due to Mar-Jac ignoring safety regulations and not turning off machinery during sanitation. The suit also claims Onin Staffing was negligent in illegally assigning the 16-year-old to work at the plant.<\/p>\n Headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia, Mar-Jac Poultry has raised live birds for poultry production since 1954 at facilities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi for food service customers in the U.S and abroad, the DOL\u2019s news release said.<\/p>\n A telephone call Friday to the company seeking comment about the settlement was not answered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n