After COVID-19 outbreak kills 4, Smithfield meat plant in South Dakota fined $13,494
A Smithfield meatpacking plant was fined $13,494 — the maxium allowed — after a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility led to four deaths and nearly 1,300 cases.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the fine and citation Thursday against the plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, accusing the company of failing to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus. OSHA cited Smithfield under the “general duty clause for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards.”
“Employers must quickly implement appropriate measures to protect their workers’ safety and health,” OSHA Sioux Falls Area Director Sheila Stanley said in a news release. “Employers must meet their obligations and take the necessary actions to prevent the spread of coronavirus at their worksite.”
Smithfield slammed the citation as “wholly without merit” in a statement to McClatchy News. It intends to contest the penalty.
The company says a widespread investigation by OSHA returned only a catchall “general duty clause” citation for conditions in late March — a month before the federal agency issued guidelines for the meatpacking industry.
“Despite this fact, we figured it out on our own,” Smithfield said. “We took extraordinary measures on our own initiative to keep our employees as healthy and safe as possible so that we could fulfill our obligation to the American people to maintain the food supply.”
President Donald Trump ordered meat plants to remain open in late April, citing the Defense Production Act, as COVID-19 outbreaks spread in facilities across the U.S.
The Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls shut down temporarily in the spring as the coronavirus spread among employees.
“The fact is that the Sioux Falls community experienced an early spike in COVID-19 cases, which impacted our plant,” Smithfield said. “We responded immediately, consulting with CDC, South Dakota Department of Health, USDA and many others. We also simultaneously and repeatedly urged OSHA to commit the time and resources to visit our operations in March and April. They did not do so.”
Meatpacking plants continue to be the source of clusters. For example, data released Sept. 7 by Kansas officials show 2,148 cases in the state linked to six facilities, The Kansas City Star reported.
