(CNN Business) US labor authorities have fined Smithfield Packaged Meats Corporation for failing to protect employees from exposure to coronavirus — the government's first Covid-19-related citation for a meatpacker. OSHA said it cited Smithfield for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that can cause serious harm or death at its pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The plant is one of the country's largest pork processing facilities. According to the Labor Department, 1,294 employees at Smithfield contracted coronavirus and four of them died this spring. "Employers must quickly implement appropriate measures to protect their workers' safety and health," said Sheila Stanley, the director for OSHA Sioux Falls in a statement.

Source: CNN September 11, 2020 10:41 UTC