Cal/OSHA Issues Largest Meatpacking Penalty Over Virus Hazards

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued more than $100,000 in total fines to a Smithfield Foods unit and an outside staffing firm for virus-related workplace violations—the biggest known aggregate penalty issued by a workplace safety agency in the U.S. since the onset of the pandemic.

Cal/OSHA assessed Smithfield’s Farmer John facility in Vernon, Calif., $58,100 and its subcontractor, CitiStaff Solutions Inc., roughly $46,000 on Nov. 12. The agency’s underlying citations stated that more than 300 workers at the 1,800 person plant had missed time due to the contagion since March, and that three of those people had been ...