Tyson employee killed in beef processing plant accident

An employee at a Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Finney County, Kansas was killed early Monday, according to the local Sheriff’s Office.

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(Pro100Dzu | Bigstock)
(Pro100Dzu | Bigstock)

An employee at a Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Finney County, Kansas was killed early Monday, according to the local Sheriff’s Office.

The victim was identified as Kendrick Gregory, 30, of Garden City. Deputies responded to the scene after reports that a man performing maintenance on the harvest assembly line wasn’t breathing. Gregory was transported to the hospital by EMS where he later died.

Sheriffs currently believe that Gregory was pulled up by his harness against a take-away belt on the line while performing maintenance. An investigation into his death is ongoing.

Tyson Foods spokesman, Liz Croston, sad the following in a statement e-mailed to WATT Global Media, “We’re deeply saddened by the loss of one of our Finney County team members and our hearts go out to his family. The accident happened this morning in our Harvest Department. We’re working with local authorities to investigate what happened and we’ve also notified OSHA. Tyson chaplains are available to provide support to the family and our Finney County team members.”

The Finney County, Kansas plant was refurbished last year after it was badly damaged during an August 9, 2019 fire. At the time, Noel White, CEO of Tyson Foods, praised the Finney County communities of Holcomb and Garden City for their “tremendous” response to the fire.

This is the second fatality at a Tyson facility this March. Earlier this month, a contractor was decapitated while cleaning equipment at a Tyson Foods poultry processing facility located in Bakerhill, Alabama.

Tyson Foods, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, is the largest broiler company in the United States and the second largest in the world. It also ranks ninth globally as a producer of animal feed, and fifth in the United States as a turkey producer. It also is growing its presence in the plant-based protein sector.

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