The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Agency opened an investigation into a contractor and farm in Klamath County after a worker died in a vehicle accident in a canal.
According to OSHA spokesman Aaron Corvin, the death occurred at J&W Walker Farms in Malin, near the California border. The agency has launched an investigation into the incident against FCS Ag Corp. initiated, said Corvin.
J&W Walker Farms did not immediately respond to a call asking for comment.
A person who has the number of FCS Ag Corp. answered, directed the Statesman Journal to Rubin Mayorga, a labor law advisor to the contractor.
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Mayorga, based in Fresno, Calif., Described the person’s death as unfortunate and said his company, Direct Monitoring and Compliance, is focused on training contractors and employees to protect the health and safety of workers.
Details about the person’s death are still unclear, he said.
“This is the kind of out-of-date event that we want to identify: ‘What is causing it?’” Mayorga said. “We are investigating the cause and want to protect everyone else and (make sure nothing violates our guidelines or the guidelines of the producers … We are not pointing the finger here.”
FCS Ag Corp. pays to ship the person’s body to Mexico, Mayorga said.
The incident occurred a week after the death of 38-year-old kindergarten teacher Sebastian Francisco Perez in St. Paul during the record-breaking heat wave. In this case, too, the OSHA is investigating.
The agency is not discussing the status or details of the open investigation, Corvin said.
Oregon OSHA’s database of initial reports of workplace deaths shows 114 workers in various agricultural settings, such as farms, ranchers, and food processing plants, have died on the job over the past 21 years, as far as the online database goes. The Statesman Journal did not include forestry and landscaping work in this census.
During this period, ten died in motor vehicle accidents and four in ATV accidents.
Dora Totoian reports on farm workers through Report for America, a program that aims to support local journalism and democracy by covering undercover issues and communities.
You can reach her at [email protected]
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