JBS Fined $175K After Conveyer Belt Amputation

In a report released in late August, OSHA informed meatpacking giant JBS USA that it was levying fines of $175,000 against the company after an employee at its beef factory in Greeley, CO had an arm amputated by a conveyor belt.The OSHA report, sent to JBS on Aug. 17, details five safety violations at the factory, which does business as Swift Beef Company. It states that during the end of a shift clean-up task, a 37-year-old employee was cleaning a conveyor belt when he reached for product that fell off it — after removing a plastic sleeve that prevents smock sleeves from dangling near danger zones — when he became caught in the drive sprockets of the conveyor, resulting in the amputation of his left arm.