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Officials for ConAgra Foods Inc. and the North Carolina Labor Department will meet next week to discuss citations issued by state safety regulators related to the fatal June explosion at the company’s Slim Jim plant in Garner, N.C.
The “informal conference” Dec. 18 will allow both parties to discuss the 26 serious citations and $135,000 in fines handed down earlier this month, said Dolores Quisenberry, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Labor Department. ConAgra had 15 business days since issuance of the department’s decision Dec. 1 to request a meeting, file an appeal or pay the fine.
About 90 percent of all North Carolina cases involving Occupational Safety and Health Act violations result in such conferences, Quisenberry said.
The June explosion claimed the lives of four workers, three who were struck by debris or crushed when part of the factory collapsed, and a fourth person employed by Energy Systems Analysts, a subcontractor working at the plant.
Investigators said an Energy Systems Analyst worker purged a natural gas line indoors while trying to light the factory’s natural gas-fired water heater.
Hickory, N.C.-based Energy Systems Analysts also was fined $58,000 on 28 serious offenses. The fine amounts are based on company size, its cooperation with investigators and previous violations.
Quisenberry said that in most “high-profile” cases like ConAgra’s, North Carolina district labor supervisors, compliance officers, lawyers, a representative from the State Attorney General’s Office and one of two compliance bureau chiefs will meet with company legal representatives, safety officers and, occasionally, company presidents.
Three outcomes from the meeting are possible: ConAgra could file an appeal; labor officials could amend the citations after viewing additional evidence the company might present; or both parties could agree to an informal settlement.
Decisions are made public five days after the meeting, and ConAgra will have 15 days to take further action.
David Coats, the lawyer for Energy Systems Analysts, said the subcontractor will also request an informal meeting by the Dec. 22 deadline.
Contact the writer:
444-1414, ross.boettcher@owh.com
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