CENTER, Texas (AP) – Inspectors have fined Tyson Foods more than $263,000 for safety violations at an East Texas poultry plant where a worker’s finger was amputated when it became stuck in a conveyor belt. That’s according to the U.S. Labor Department, which says in a news release that Tyson was fined for 15 serious violations at its plant in Center, Texas, near the Louisiana border. The processing plant was inspected earlier this year by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration after authorities received a report of the amputation, which occurred when the worker tried to remove chicken parts jammed in the belt. Among the violations found by inspectors were high levels of carbon dioxide, lack of proper safeguards on moving machine parts and not enough protective equipment for workers. It also was determined that employees were exposed to slip-and-fall hazards due to a lack of proper drainage and fire hazards resulting from improperly stored compressed gas cylinders.
