OSHA has inspected Pilgrims 5 times in Texas since 2015.
The latest one began on Dec 10, 2019 on a referral, in Mount Pleasant.
Those inspections ended with 6 citation items: 2 serious, 1 repeat and 3 other-than-serious.
Penalties were first proposed at $128,597 and now stand at $80,923, 37% lower after settlements or reviews.
Process safety management comes up most often in these citations: 4 items under 1910.119.
How that compares: the median penalty per cited inspection for manufacturing employers since 2015 is $4,874, and Pilgrims averages $40,462 (2 cited inspections).
Pilgrims also files yearly injury logs with OSHA, summarized below.
It reported 6 severe injuries to OSHA since 2015.
Citation items per year, by inspection date.
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Incident on Dec 3, 2019: Employee amputates finger when doesn't lockout/tagout machin
At 4:30 p.m. on December 3, 2019, an employee was sanitizing a neck skinner machine. The employee failed to shut and logout/tagout the machine. The employee was hospitalized to treat an amputation of the right index finger.
No citations from this inspection.
Inspection 342887262 OPENED JAN 18, 2018Closed
Follow-up · Partial · Safety · 450 employees at the site · Closed Feb 27, 2018
From the Form 300A summaries employers file with OSHA each year. Rate = recordable cases per 100 full-time workers.
In 2022, the Waco site logged 24 recordable injuries or illnesses among about 550 workers: 4.2 per 100 full-time workers, against a median of 3.7 for its industry. Those cases cost 43 days away from work.
Site and year
Workers
Cases
Days-away cases
Rate
Industry median
Pilgrim's
Waco · 2022
550
24
4
4.2
3.7
JBS-Pilgrims
Waco · 2021
529
24
4
4.5
3.7
Severe injury reports
Employers must report any work-related amputation, in-patient hospitalization or loss of an eye to OSHA within 24 hours. 6 reports on file.
Nov 5, 2025, Waco: Amputation · amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified · finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s)
An employee was servicing a bagging machine when his finger was pinched in the bag-sealing area, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
Sep 18, 2020, Mount Pleasant: Hospitalization · fractures · hip(s)
An employee was walking to a hand wash area at the end of his shift. At the same time, a contract team member was entering the facility to clean it with a water hose. Part of the hose was dragging on the floor. The employee tripped on the water hose and fell, fracturing his left hip.
Dec 3, 2019, Mount Pleasant: Amputation · amputations · finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c.
An employee was sanitizing a neck skinner machine when the machine amputated the employee's right index finger. The machine was not locked/tagged out at the time of the incident.
An employee was unclogging a drain with a mechanical plumbers snake when his right hand was entangled in the hose resulting in the amputation of the right thumb tip.
Feb 9, 2017, Waco: Hospitalization · fractures · leg(s), unspecified
An employee was placing a hold tag on a pallet in the shipping dock area when a forklift struck him, fracturing his left leg.
May 7, 2016, Waco: Amputation · amputations · fingertip(s)
An employee was moving spare parts and caught a finger in the hinge/assembly part resulting in the amputation of the left ring fingertip.
The rules behind these citations
Current text from the Code of Federal Regulations. Some citations were issued under older wording.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA enforcement data. A citation is OSHA's allegation; employers can contest it, and the status column shows where each item stands. Something wrong on this page? Tell us.
