The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. with eight safety violations following the death of a worker who became caught in an unguarded hopper while attempting to remove a piece of cardboard at the company’s facility in Canton. OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office initiated its inspection in October 2012 in response to the fatality.

Two repeat safety violations have been cited for failing to include the process needed for the removal of locks and start-up following lockout/tagout. Additionally, the electrical cords did not have an effective strain relief device. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Similar violations were cited following a 2011 inspection.

Four serious safety violations involve the employer failing to conduct annual periodic inspections of the energy control procedures since 2005 and not providing effective machine and equipment guarding, so that workers cannot enter areas of operation and be exposed to struck-by and caught-in hazards. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Two other-than-serious violations involve failing to consider safety and health standards for the refrigeration process and not including safety systems and their functions in the refrigeration operating procedures. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

“Establishing safety and health programs that identify and remove hazards before a worker gets injured or sick goes to the very core of providing a safe and healthful workplace,” said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “In this case, a tragic loss resulted from equipment that could easily have been guarded.”

The citations for the repeat and serious violations carry $58,755 in proposed penalties. No monetary penalties have been assessed for the other-than-serious violations.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. employs approximately 38,500 workers with operations in 12 states, Mexico and Puerto Rico. 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s Atlanta-East area director or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Work is continuing at Hays State Prison in Penville to make the prison safer for inmates and staff, according to Hays Warden Rick Jacobs.

Jacobs says work in B building is almost complete and work on replacing locks in A Building has already begun. He say is all goes as expected, A building should be complete by May 30th. He said that date could shift because of the availability of materials but right now, all is looking good.

That means the return of visitation for prisoners is not too far off, Jacobs explained.

He said after all work is complete, a strategic plan will be laid out, inmates will be reassigned beds and cells and they will come off of lockdown entirely.

A maximum lockdown was instituted on January 18, after Jacobs took the helm at the prison after the murders of three inmates at the end of last year and beginning of this year, and the stabbing of two correctional officers.

The initial lockdown mandated that prisoners not be allowed to move out of their cells with the exception of fundamental needs, such as showers, medical reasons, etc. No visitation was allowed. The prison transitioned to a modified lockdown on February 18, at which point prisoners were allowed restrictive movement.

The third transition, according to Jacobs will be a "slow roll off of lockdown."

Jacobs said, "We won't be opening the doors and letting them out (of their cells) but they'll get a little more freedom each day, one day at a time.

Jacobs said that freedom will be dictated by the inmates and depend on how things transpire.  It will be sometime after this transition that inmates will be allowed visitation with family members and loved ones.

A Trion man was charged with possession of Hydrocodone earler this week after being stopped at a road safety check on Butler Dairy Road.

20-year-old Joshua Brown, of a Old Highway 27 address, came through the road check just after noon on Monday, April 15 on Butler Dairy Road at Maddux Lake Road. After providing identification, it was determined that Floyd County had a warrant for the arrest of a passenger in the vehicle, Brandon White. 

Deputies searched the vehicle and while that was going on, Brown reportedly kept digging through his pockets, though he was told not to do so several times. A search of Brown turned up a clear cigarette wrapper containing one white  pill believed to be Hydrocodone, a schedule III narcotic. He was charged with possession of a schedule III drug.

An Oak Hill Alpine Road, Lyerly, woman reported several items taken from her yard. According to the report, a bag of golf clubs in  Notre Dame bag were taken, as well as a metal took box that fits in the back of a pickup truck. The woman also reported that some of her water pipes and her well pump had been damaged.

A brush fire got out of hand Monday, smoking up an entire neighborhood and requiring fire units.

According to the Sheriff's Department report, a burn permit was obtained for a brush fire at a Highway 114 residence, but kids threw trash on the fire which caused it to smoke considerable. Neighbors reportedly thought the house was on fire and several fire units responded. The brush fire was put out and there was no damage reported.  

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Dalton State College tuition is going  up $36 per semester. It's the latest round of increases from the State Board of Regents. In-state tuition at Dalton will be $1,459 per semester and athletics fees will go up to $83. There is also a newly mandated $20 recreation fee that students must pay. 

A Cedartown man and a Rome woman who were in Boston for the Boston Marathon on Monday were both unharmed in the explosion that rocked the end of the race.

Alexis Headrix, of Rome, was competing in the marathon. She and her family reportedly also were unharmed.  

If you're planning to travel Highway 337 in Walker County this week be aware that there is road work going on. Georgia DOT crews are sealing pavement cracks on the roadway through Friday. Crews will be working from 7:30 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. each day.