Posted on 08/12/2015 3:23:15 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The horrific death of Jose Melena of Wilmington occurred Oct. 11, 2012, when he entered a 35-foot cylindrical oven and became inadvertently trapped when coworkers loaded 12,000 pounds of canned tuna into the oven. Workers did not know Melena was inside, according to the DA’s office.
During the two-hour heat sterilization process, the oven’s internal temperature rose to about 270 degrees, the DA’s office had previously said. Melena’s severely burned remains were discovered by a coworker.
His family will get $1.5 million of the $6 million settlement payout.
Under the plea agreement, San Diego-based Bumble Bee will also be required to spend $3 million to replace the outdated tuna ovens with new, automated, pressurized steam cookers that won’t require workers to set inside. Ovens will get video cameras installed, and managers and workers will be required to get safety training.
...
Saul Florez of Whittier, Bumble Bee’s former safety manager, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of willfully violating lockout tagout rules and proximately causing the victim’s death. He was sentenced to three years of probation, along with 30 days of community labor and safety classes. He must pay $19,000 in fines and penalties.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
“His family will get $1.5 million of the $6 million settlement payout. “
Who gets the rest?
Dang. Beat me to it. No Dolphins Were Harmed During This Process. Workers-——not so much.
I remember that this used to happen in the steel industry. I remember one in particular at American Bridge Steel in Ambridge, PA where a worker who was perpetually drunk on the job fell into a furnace or some other super-heated piece of equipment. Nothing is left — not even bones.
Bumble Bee owns and markets about ten brands.
Read the fine print on your cans.
And ..?? It’s not any brand I eat.
Lawyers usually feast on these tragedies.
It sure has saved arms, legs, and lives in the oil patch.
Wonder how all of the political links work for this company?
“”that won’t require workers to set inside.””
Can’t trust anything you read these days. What does that mean? Is it supposed to read “won’t require workers to SIT inside” or “won’t require workers to GET inside?”
Also it would be helpful if those familiar with the “lock out, tag out” explained it to the rest of us or is it privileged knowledge?
BB bought Stimson Sardine, Maine [the last sardine factory in the USA]...and promptly closed it.
The $6 million is the total of: $1.5 million to the worker’s family, $3 million that the company will spend to replace their equipment, $750,000 in fines, and an additional $750,000 to fund occupational safety investigations by the DA’s office. My guess is that that last part is not called a “fine” so it will be tax-deductible.
Recently heard this on Fibber McGee and Molly. Fibber is talking to Myrt, the phone operator. Her brother wrote from a troop ship. He didn’t know where they were going, but the way they were packed in, he figured it had to be Sardinia.
It means the machine is locked out usually with a padlock and tagged with a red tag NOT to Operate.
Imagine his loved ones having to live with the knowledge that he died like that. Just awful.
Ok. Now we HAVE to know. What brand tuna do you eat?
It’s the best. It’s all that I buy.
The government goons get a bigger cut than the victim considering their lawyers are already paid with tax dollars.
Kirkland. Illegal immigrant free tuna 99% of the time!
Kirkland. Illegal immigrant free tuna 99% of the time!
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