NJ Food Plant Worker Dies After Falling Into Meat Processor

WOODBRIDGE, NJ - A worker at a Woodbridge food processing plant died after an accident at the facility Friday afternoon.

The female victim fell into a large meat processor while it was in use at the United Premium Foods plant on Amboy Avenue at around 12:30 p.m., Insider reported.

United Premium Foods CEO Ken Mayer confirmed the death in a statement to Patch:

"We are devastated by the loss of our longtime employee, who was a beloved member of our company. Our deepest condolences go out to her daughter at this difficult time. We are fully cooperating with the official investigation."

The United Premium Foods facility is used for food processing, storage and distribution of Italian cured and smoked meats, as well as pet food.

OSHA is investigating the incident, a spokesperson told Patch. The agency has six months to conduct the investigation and release its findings.

Several New Jersey manufacturing facilities come under fire in recent years after workers suffered a "serious, preventable" injuries on the job, OSHA officials said.

In May, Burlington County-based United Hospital Supply Corp. was placed in a Severe Violator Enforcement Program and fined nearly $500,000 after a worker suffered a "serious, preventable" amputation because supervisors bypassed the press brake’s light curtain, OSHA said.

In 2021, Lakewood-based ice cream manufacturing plant Fieldbrook Foods Corp. was found to have ignored federal safety officials' calls to shut down a machine during repair work, which resulted in two severe amputation injuries in 2018 and 2020, OSHA said.

A contractor at Robbinsville frozen food manufacturer CJ TMI Manufacturing America also died in December 2021 when they fell 11 feet while using a scissor lift to replace a freezer drain, OSHA said. A subsequent investigation found a "damaged and inoperable snap hook" on the lift's safety chain that was not inspected before the work began.

A lack of training, fall protection and hazard protocol at a Millville metal coatings company, Regal Industrial Corp., led to 21 violations and $573,000 in fines dolled out to the facility from OSHA last year.