Another fatal accident has occurred at Pitman Family Farms, a Sanger, Calif.-based poultry-processing company, the second worker to die while on the job at the plant in less than a year, according to a news report.
In the latest incident, the employee was killed Wednesday after entering “a dangerous area between the tractor-trailer and its rear wheels, resulting in fatal injuries,” according to a statement from the Sanger Police Department published in the Fresno Bee. The victim has been identified as 19-year-old Jose Abrego of Sanger.
In May 2023, Pitman Family Farms employee Jesus “Chuy” Salazar, 66, died after falling into a wastewater pit and drowning at the Sanger facility. Additionally, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) just closed a case against Pitman Family Farms earlier this month for the 2019 electrocution death of an employee at the company’s Chowchilla, Calif., facility.
Regulators have been notified for follow-up investigation of the most recent incident, police said. There was no indication of foul play, the report said.
Pitman Family Farms produces the Mary’s Chicken organic and free-range chicken brand and was the target of a scathing report by the Fresno Bee earlier this month on its worker safety record over the past decade.
