JBS USA, LLC
According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, JBS USA, LLC — a manufacturing facility located at 800 NORTH 8TH AVE., GREELEY, CO 80631 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 29 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $107,225.00. The inspection case was opened on 2012-12-04.
Cumulative penalties significantly exceed the national median for OSHA enforcement actions. The penalty amount suggests multiple high-gravity citations, indicating conditions that presented a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm to employees.
Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $107,225.00 is more than 12.6× the national average of $8,527.19 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 311611). This sector encompasses 24,420 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $208.2M.
State Context: Within CO, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 32,935 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,271.13.
Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 29 citations spanning 10 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 7 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 8 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm.
Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning January 12, 2011 with the latest abatement deadline set for July 31, 2015. Of the 29 total citations, 1 (3%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.
Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $107,225.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $3,697.41 falls within the standard penalty range.
The inspection of the JBS USA facility in Greeley reveals a deeply concerning pattern of systemic occupational health failures, particularly regarding noise exposure and hazardous substance management. The imposition of over $107,000 in penalties across 29 citations signifies a site-wide breakdown in fundamental industrial hygiene protocols. Of primary concern are the high-gravity violations of 1910.95, indicating that management failed to implement feasible administrative or engineering controls to protect workers from permanent hearing loss. This negligence is compounded by the absence of effective audiometric testing programs, suggesting that the employer was not only failing to mitigate noise but was also failing to monitor the resulting physiological damage to its workforce. The citation cluster involving 1910.1000 (air contaminants) and 1910.1026 (hexavalent chromium) further underscores a failure to control respiratory hazards, a critical lapse in a high-volume meat processing environment where chemical exposure and sanitation byproducts are prevalent. The presence of Section 5(a)(1) General Duty Clause violations alongside 1904 recordkeeping infractions suggests that the facility’s safety culture was reactive rather than proactive, likely underreporting injuries while ignoring recognized hazards not covered by specific standards. Compared to industry benchmarks for NAICS 311611, the breadth of these health-related "Serious" violations indicates a failure of the corporate safety management system to provide basic protective oversight, placing hundreds of employees at risk of chronic, irreversible occupational illnesses.