Court: OSHA needs access to Foundation Food Group plant

A judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a legal battle between Foundation Food Group and the agency. OSHA has been seeking warrants to inspect the company’s poultry processing plant where a liquid nitrogen leak killed six people in January.

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designer491, Bigstockphoto.com
designer491, Bigstockphoto.com

A judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a legal battle between Foundation Food Group and the agency. OSHA has been seeking warrants to inspect the company’s poultry processing plant where a liquid nitrogen leak killed six people in January.

According to a report from the Gainesville Times, U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story stated that delaying the execution of warrants to inspect the plant would not be in the public’s best interest.

“The record supports OSHA’s concern that conditions in the plant pose a threat to the health and safety of employees, and continued delay in OSHA’s ability to review these conditions risks further harm to these same employees,” the court order read.

The facility where the leak that caused multiple fatalities is located in Gainesville, Georgia.

An attorney for Foundation Food Group argued that if the court did not stop the enforcement of warrants, the company would lose its ability to protect itself from unlawful search and seizure.

On the morning of January 28, emergency crews were dispatched to the Foundation Food Group facility, formerly known as the Prime-Pak Foods Plant. It was discovered that there was a liquid nitrogen leak, which led to the death of six people, identified as Saulo Suarez-Bernal, Jose De-Jesus Elias-Cabrera, Corey Alan Murphy, Nelly Perez-Rafael, Victor Vellez and Edgar Vera-Garcia.

Investigations of the facility conducted by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) revealed that unscheduled maintenance was being done on equipment there, and that tools were found near the line where the leak occurred. CSB also found that Foundation Food Group was experiencing “unresolved operational issues" on a conveyor that appeared to have resulted in the accidental release of the liquid nitrogen.

Foundation Food Group formed through the merger of Prime-Pak Foods and Victory Processing.

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