A man sustained serious injuries after falling about 20 feet while doing work at a Mountaire Farms poultry complex in Millsboro, Delaware.
A preliminary investigation of the incident revealed that the accident took place at around 2:24 p.m. on February 24. The victim, identified only as a 58-year-old man from Melfa, Virginia, was working on a grated walkway during renovation efforts at the facility. The man was removing old grates and replacing with new ones, when he fell from the walkway and landed on the ground, Delaware State Police spokeswoman Master Cpl. Juanita Huey informed Delaware State News.
According to the news report, the man was removed from the scene and was transported by Millsboro EMS to the Beebe Hospital. He was listed in stable condition later that evening.
Mountaire Farms’ operations in Millsboro in 2018 received two safety awards through the Join Poultry Industry Safety Awards Program, sponsored by the National Chicken Council, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the National Turkey Federation. It received an Award of Distinction for its feed mill in Millsboro and an Award of Honor for its poultry processing operation in the community.
Mountaire Farms, the sixth largest poultry company in the United States according to 2019 rankings, is headquartered in Millsboro, but the company also has operations in Maryland, North Carolina and Arkansas. According to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, the company employs 10,337 people. The company produced 57.39 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2019, a 17.2% increase when compared to 2018.
The company’s newest poultry plant, in Siler City, North Carolina, was dedicated in April 2017. It was announced at the time that the facility would employ up to 1,250 people when the poultry complex reached full production. The facility had previously been operated by Townsends, but a renovation of the complex was needed before production could begin.
