(CNN) -
U.S. labor authorities fined Smithfield Packaged Meats Corporation for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus.
This is the first government citation related to COVID-19 for a meat packer.
The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a fine of US $ 13,494, according to an announcement Thursday.
The amount is the maximum allowed by law.
OSHA indicated that it cited Smithfield for failing to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards that can cause serious injury or death at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota pork processing plant.
The plant is one of the largest pork processing facilities in the country.
According to the Department of Labor, 1,294 Smithfield employees contracted coronavirus and four of them died this spring.
"Employers must quickly implement appropriate measures to protect the safety and health of their workers," Sheila Stanley, OSHA Sioux Falls director, said in a statement.
"Employers must meet their obligations and take the necessary actions to prevent the spread of coronavirus in their workplace."
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The company told CNN Business in a statement that it disagreed with OSHA's subpoena, adding that it "took extraordinary steps on its own initiative" to keep employees as healthy and safe as possible.
"This OSHA citation has no merit and we plan to challenge it," Keira Lombardo, Smithfield's executive vice president of corporate affairs and compliance, said in a statement.
Lombardo says the only OSHA citation comes "after an investigation that lasted many months and included the review of more than 20,000 pages of documents and 60 interviews."
It added that the citation was issued under a "general duty clause" for conditions that existed in March, about a month before OSHA issued guidance to the meatpacking industry on how to deal with COVID-19.
The Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which is the nation's largest meat packers union and represents South Dakota workers, criticized the sanction for being too weak.
«How much is the health, safety and life of an essential worker worth?
Based on the actions of the Trump Administration, clearly not much, ”union president Marc Perrone said in a statement.
"This so-called 'fine' is a slap on the wrist for Smithfield, and a slap in the face for the thousands of American meatpacking workers who have risked their lives to help feed America since the start of this pandemic." .
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The South Dakota plant closed in mid-April when employees fell ill.
It reopened in May.
"The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have been closed throughout our industry, brings our country dangerously close to the limit in terms of our meat supply," said the chief executive of the meat processor. , Kenneth Sullivan, in a statement when the shutdown occurred.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) visited the plant in late April after the move.
Subsequently, the CDC issued more than 100 recommendations to the Smithfield plant.
Smithfield managers told the CDC it has a number of changes planned, including requiring face masks for all employees, increasing the amount of hand sanitizers and adding Plexiglas barriers where workers cannot be separated.
covid-19
