Investigation into teen worker's death continues

U.S. Department of Labor investigators are seeking to interview employees at a Hattiesburg, Mo., poultry plant as the DOL continues their probe into the death of a 16-year-old worker in July 2023.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Wage and Hour Division have opened workplace safety and child labor investigations at the Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC plant. To aid the investigation, OSHA obtained a warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi to secure access to the Mar-Jac facility and investigate safety hazards related to the incident. The warrant allowed federal officials to question any employer, operator, agent or employee privately and to review records related to the operation and maintenance of the equipment involved in the incident.