Here's something you may find less than appetizing after reading this story.
What does it take for criminal charges to be filed in a workplace death? A
horrific story like this:
Jose Melena was performing maintenance in a 35-foot-long oven at [Bumble Bee Foods'] Santa Fe Springs plant before dawn Oct. 11, 2012, when a co-worker, who mistakenly believed Melena was in the bathroom, filled the pressure cooker with 12,000 pounds of canned tuna and it was turned on.
When a supervisor noticed Melena, 62, was missing, an announcement was made on the intercom and employees searched for him in the facility and parking lot, according to a report by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. His body was found two hours later after the pressure cooker, which reached a temperature of 270 degrees, was turned off and opened.
Bumble Bee says it was all a "tragic accident" and charges aren't called for, but:
The San Diego-based company, former safety manager Saul Florez, and Angel Rodriguez, the director of plant operations, were each charged with three felony counts of committing an occupational safety and health violation that caused a death, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. [...]
If convicted, Rodriguez and Florez each face up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The company could be fined up to $1.5 million.
I'm sure it was an accident, in the sense that Melena's coworker did not intend to cook him to death. But companies have to be held responsible for safety procedures that make sure things like that don't happen. Kind of like car companies manufacture cars with seat belts and crumple zones.
Appropriately enough, the charges came on Monday, the day before Workers Memorial Day, a day for remembering people killed on the job.