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One of the nation’s largest food sanitation service providers has been fined $1.5 million for employing at least 102 minors in dangerous jobs cleaning meatpacking plants in several states, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) was found to have breached child labor regulations, with children as young as 13 years old working overnight shifts in 13 meat processing facilities across eight states, allegedly using hazardous chemicals to clean saws and other equipment.
According to the DOL, the children were allegedly engaged in working with unsafe chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment such as back saws, brisket saws, and head splitters. The investigation discovered that at least three minors had been injured while working for the company.
Jessica Looman, principal deputy administrator of the DOL’s Wage and Hour division, said the child labor violations in the case were systemic, reaching across eight states.
“These children should never have been employed in meat packing plants and this can only happen when employers do not take responsibility to prevent child labor violations from occurring in the first place,” she said in a statement.
The DOL imposed the maximum penalty of $15,138 for each minor-aged employee allowed by law under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
