Smithfield Foods pork plant faces OSHA fine from outbreak
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Federal regulators said Thursday they 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. It also found that leading up to the first known infections at the plant on March 23, Smithfield did not do enough to space them out or provide other safety measures like face coverings or physical barriers.
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, said it planned to contest the citation and $13,494 fine. Keira Lombardo, a spokeswoman for the company, called the citation “wholly without merit" in a statement and argued the company had taken “extraordinary measures” to protect employees from infections.
Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Smithfield-Foods-pork-plant-faces-OSHA-fine-from-15557827.php
The fine was insignificant.
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