A staffing buyer was cited after a 16-year-old contingent worker died after being pulled into a machine, the US Department of Labor reported Jan. 16.

The incident happened on July 14, 2023, at a facility in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The contingent worker was deep cleaning the deboning area at the Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC plant when the worker was caught in a rotating shaft and sprockets, according to the department.

Investigators found lockout/tagout procedures were not used to disconnect power to the machine, according to the department. Neither was there a lockout/tagout device to prevent the machine from unintentionally starting.

“Mar-Jac Poultry is aware of how dangerous the machinery they use can be when safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury and death,” OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer said in a press release. “The company’s inaction has directly led to this terrible tragedy, which has left so many to mourn this child’s preventable death.”

SIA has reached out to Mar-Jac Poultry as well as Ōnin Staffing, the staffing firm that supplied the worker.

Mar-Jac Poultry faces 14 serious and three other-than-serious violations from the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In addition, $212,646 in penalties have been proposed.

The department previously cited Mar-Jac Poultry after a May 31, 2021, incident in which an employee’s shirt sleeve was caught in a machine and they were pulled into the device, suffering fatal injuries.