Pilgrim’s Pride in Guntersville was fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in late June and early July.

The citations, which are listed as “serious,” were issued to the plant on June 22, 2020, and July 1, 2020. They say employees were exposed to fall and “crushed-by” hazards.

The total proposed penalty for the citation issued on June 22 is $26,988. It says the violation happened on or about Dec. 23, 2019, when procedures were not utilized for employees cleaning under a conveyor and when one or more employees were under the elevated portion of a “powered industrial truck(s)."

The citation issued on July 1 says that violation happened on or about Jan. 6, 2020, when employees were exposed to fall hazards of up to 34 feet “and/or crushing/caught under hazards when they loaded/unloaded material” in an elevator. It says loads exceeded the rated capacity, the wire rope supporting the carriage was unserviceable and it did not have a falling platform safety device to adequately stop a fall in the event of a mechanical failure.

That citation also says caution signs were not used to warn against potential hazards or to caution against unsafe practices. This citation has a total proposed penalty of $26,988.

On Jan. 6, WAAY 31 reported that a man was killed in an accident at the plant. Read more on that here and here.

We're told by OSHA that the violation in January is associated with hazards found during the fatality inspection.