It has been reported that Bumble Bee Foods LLC will pay over six million dollars to resolve criminal violation of worker safety rules charges arising out of a 2012 death of an employee, a 62 year old father of six who was “cooked to death in a pressure cooker” at the company’s Santa Fe Springs California facility.
The employee was cleaning a cooking device, called a steamer machine, when other employees loaded 12,000 pounds of tuna, and shut the door behind him, he was trapped in the oven.
The settlement was the largest known disbursement in a California prosecution of workplace safety violations, involving an individual victim.
Additional fines were ordered, Bumble Bee was also required to implement increased safety and prevention measures, including installation of video cameras at ovens and safety audits of plant equipment. The company will pay to replace outdated ovens that do not require employees to set foot inside.