“Horseplaying with Machinery” Leads to Death at Food Plant

Police in Hattiesburg, MS said this week that “horseplaying with machinery” led to the death of a worker at the Mar-Jac Poultry processing plant located in the city on December 15, according to local news organizations.

A Hattiesburg Police Department spokesperson told WDAM that the victim, identified as 33-year-old Joel Valasco Toto, received injuries after other workers were “horseplaying with machinery” at the site.

The man was seriously injured in the plant’s battery charging room, Joe Collee, the complex manager of the Mar-Jac site, said in coverage by the Hattiesburg American. A local coroner said in the newspaper’s report that the victim died of trauma to the abdomen and pelvis caused by compressed air.

Mar-Jac said it is cooperating with an investigation being carried out by the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and area law enforcement agencies.

The company supplies poultry products to food service industry clients in the US.