An employee of a company doing contract work at a House of Raeford Farms poultry plant in Arcadia, Louisiana, died from injuries sustained at an accident at the plant.
According to a report from KSLA, Robert Andrews, 40, had an accident while operating a forklift on March 4. Andrews was reportedly on the back loading dock at the plant and apparently lost control of the forklift. Police said the forklift ran off the dock, and Andrews apparently jumped off, but was pinned against a high beam by the forklift.
He was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead as a result of internal injuries.
Andrews was an employee of Delight Fabrication, which was doing repair work at the House of Raeford plant.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the employee and the Delight Fabrication family,” House of Raeford said in a statement.
The accident is being investigated by the Arcadia Police Department and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Heath and Safety Administration.
House of Raeford Farms’ Arcadia facility had previously been recognized for its record of safety.
In 2017, the Joint Industry Safety and Health Council, which is comprised of members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY), National Chicken Council (NCC), and National Turkey Federation (NTF), awarded House of Raeford’s Arcadia operations with an Award of Honor.
In 2012, the staff at the Arcadia plant reached one million man hours without a lost time accident.
House of Raeford Farms, according to WATT PoultryUSA’s 2018 Top Broiler Companies survey, is the ninth largest broiler company in the United States. In 2017, the company slaughtered 3.55 million chickens and processed 27.62 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken, both on a weekly basis. The company is headquartered in Rose Hill, North Carolina.
