California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed to fine two meat companies about $60,000 for failing to adequately protect workers from COVID-19.
“D.L. Poultry Inc. in Monterey Park and Olson Meat Company in Orland put their workers at risk for serious illness because they did not ensure their workers were physically distanced at least six feet apart in the processing area, nor did they install Plexiglas or other barriers between the workers,” the agency said in announcing a proposed $51,190 fine for D.L. Poultry and a $9,000 fine for Olson.
Cal/OSHA also proposed to fine Uni-Kool Partners in Salinas $5,850 for not implementing procedures “to screen employees and visitors arriving at the facility,” and failing “to take appropriate measures for employees who exhibited COVID-19 symptoms at the facility.” The company is in food processing, the agency said.
Interested in more coverage and insights? Receive a free month of Agri-Pulse West.
Also cited were six farms and farm labor companies, which are due to receive penalties ranging from $4,050 and $11,250 for COVID violations. Five also were cited for illness prevention violations.
Cal/OSHA has targeted food processing, meatpacking, health care, agriculture and retail as priorities in “strategic enforcement efforts to make sure employers have adequate COVID-19 infection prevention procedures in place,” Cal/OSHA Chief Doug Parker said.
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
