SANGER – A report from a California agency identified the absence of a safety program and missing and damaged equipment as contributing factors in the death of a Pitman Farms employee last year.
Jesus Salazar Castillo, 66, drowned on May 6, 2023 after he fell into an offal wastewater pit he was cleaning at the company’s Sanger poultry processing plant. The Sanger plant produces Pitman’s high-end poultry products “Mary’s Chicken,” “Mary’s Turkey” and “Mary’s Duck.”
According to the July 25, 2024 report from the California State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program, Pitman’s failure to develop and implement a hydrogen sulfide safety program for the wastewater room contributed to Salazar’s death. There is speculation that Salazar may have been overcome by the hydrogen sulfide fumes, lost consciousness and fell into the pit.
The FACE report also stated that no hazard assessment of the had been conducted which could have identified the pit as a confined space, requiring a permit.
The report found that there were missing and unsecured floor grates protecting the pit and that guardrails surrounding the pit were damaged. The guardrails were damaged by a backhoe that was used to remove the offal.
The report noted, “The employer’s representative indicated that the company did not have any policies or procedures on how to work in the pit room and they did not conduct inspections of the room. An employee stated they did not have to wear fall protection when working around the pit.”
SATURDAY, MAY 6
May 6 was a Saturday. Salazar routinely volunteered to work weekends. He arrived at the facility at 5 a.m. Prior to Salazar’s arrival, a plant superintendent conducting rounds noticed water overflowing in the evisceration room, which is next to the pit room. When the superintendent walked into the pit room, he saw wastewater flowing over the sides of the pit – a routine occurrence at the facility.
According to the report, when the wastewater reached a certain level, pumps were supposed to automatically kick in to lower the level of the water. On May 6, the pump switch was turned off.
Just after 5 a.m., Salazar and another employee entered the work area. The unidentified employee walked into the evisceration room to shut off the incoming water and activate the trash pumps, Salazar went to work power washing the pit room.
The facility has security cameras but they did not capture what happened to Salazar. Video footage showed Salazar entering the wastewater area. Roughly 40 seconds later, the video captures other workers searching for Salazar.
Since there is no video of Salazar falling into the pit – which is 14 feet wide, 8.6 feet long and 17 feet deep – the report hypothesized he was kneeling at the edge of the pit and slipped in. A grate was missing from the spot where Salazar was kneeling.
Officers from Sanger Police were dispatched to the facility at 5:43 a.m. Salazar was completely submerged in the offal pit with only the tips of his shoes breaking the surface. Pumps were turned on to lower the wastewater. A police dive team entered the pit and retrieved Salazar’s body. He was pronounced dead at 7:53 a.m.
The Fresno Coroner’s Office concluded that Salazar had drowned.
FACE offered four recommendations at the end of the report. The recommendations are for all poultry processing facilities and are intended to prevent similar accidents. The recommendations are:
- Develop and implement policies, procedures and inspections as part of a safety program to protect employees from being overexposed to airborne contaminants such as hydrogen sulfide;
- Ensure offal wastewater pits are identified as permit required confined spaces and a permit confined space program is implemented;
- Ensure that all pumps and equipment remain in operation so there is wastewater flow through the offal pit; and
- Ensure open offal pits are guarded and covered.
JOSE ABREGO
The Pitman Sanger facility has racked up numerous safety violations in recent years. On Feb. 21, 2024, Jose Abrego, 19, was crushed to death by a truck he had been washing. According to a Cal/OSHA report, the truck belonged to a fleet of trucks operated by Western Grain and Milling, which is owned by Pitman Farms.
Western Grain had safety violations far in excess of industry standards, including multiple violations relating to brakes. The Times previously reported on Abrego’s death and Western Grain’s safety record.
