Deaths of 6 poultry plant workers "entirely avoidable," Labor Secretary says

A chicken processing plant in Gainesville, Georgia, failed to take any of the safety steps necessary to prevent a nitrogen leak that killed six workers and injured at least a dozen others, the Department of Labor said Friday in proposing nearly $1 million in penalties.

The DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the January 28, 2021, incident at the Food Foundation Group facility, finding 59 violations and proposing $998,637 in penalties against the company and two other entities.  Six workers died of asphyxiation after entering a freezer room where an equipment malfunction caused the release of colorless, odorless liquid nitrogen into the air, OSHA found. Liquid nitrogen is used to flash-freeze chicken products at the plant, which employs about 180 people, many of them immigrants fearful of deportation, Kurt Petermeyer, regional administrator for OSHA in Atlanta, said.