Georgia lawmakers push for updates on explosion at Tyson plantGeorgia lawmakers push for updates on explosion at Tyson plant

Warnock, Ossoff and Bishop urge OSHA to provide timely updates on investigation into cause of explosion and fire at Tyson’s poultry plant in Camilla.

Kristin Bakker, Digital Content Specialist

January 17, 2025

2 Min Read
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Federal and state lawmakers from Georgia are urging the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) to provide more regular updates during the investigation into an explosion at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Camilla, Ga., late last month that caused the facility to go up in flames.

It took the fire department until the middle of the night on Dec. 27 to put out the fire, according to a news release issued during the situation by the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union, the union representing the Camilla facility. A boiler was reported to be the suspected cause of the explosion.

The explosion and fire injured several people working at the poultry plant on that night and caused one fatality, the wife of an employee who had been outside the facility in a vehicle.

Now, the Georgia Democrats – U.S. Sens. Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff and state Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (GA-02) – are seeking more information on the findings of the ongoing investigation and are requesting a briefing on the results of this investigation when available.

In a joint letter to Douglas L. Parker, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, the lawmakers pointed out that Tyson’s Camilla poultry facility is the largest employer in Mitchell County, Ga.; hence, “the plant’s operations are integral to the community, and this tragedy has profoundly affected many of the plant’s employees and the larger Camilla community. … Ensuring the safety of hard-working Georgians is our top priority, which is why this incident is of grave concern.”

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Tyson had invested $34.2 million on a 35,000 square foot expansion of the Camilla poultry facility in 2019, which included construction of a “mega line” that led to the hiring of 100 new team members at the plant.

The letter from Warnock, Ossoff and Bishop continued, “Congress created the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for Americans by setting and enforcing workplace safety rules. OSHA’s rigorous enforcement of the nation’s workplace safety rules is, therefore, crucial to its mission of ensuring companies comply with workplace safety standards.

“While we understand that the investigation into this explosion is ongoing and will require time to complete, we respectfully request regular updates and a full briefing on the results of this investigation at the appropriate time. This transparency will be essential to providing affected families and the broader community with greater insight into the cause of the explosion and any progress being made to ensure such tragedies never happen again,” they said.

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About the Author

Kristin Bakker

Digital Content Specialist, Farm Progress Livestock Group

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