Two men arrested for death of co-worker who was mistakenly cooked in an industrial oven | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Tuesday 28 April 2015

Two men arrested for death of co-worker who was mistakenly cooked in an industrial oven

Bumble Bee Foods and two managers were charged by Los Angeles prosecutors yesterday with violating safety regulations in the death of a worker who was cooked in an industrial oven with tons of tuna. 

Jose Melena was performing maintenance in a 35-foot-long oven at the company’s Santa Fe Springs plant before dawn Oct. 11, 2012, when a co-worker, who mistakenly believed Melena was in the bathroom, filled the pressure cooker with 12,000 pounds of canned tuna and it was turned on.



When a supervisor noticed Melena, 62, was missing, an announcement was made on the intercom and employees searched for him in the facility and parking lot, according to a report by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

After a 2 hour search, the pressure cooker, which had reached a temperature of 270 degrees, was turned off and opened and that's where is body was found. The 2 coworkers, Rodriguez, 63 and Florez, 42,who turned the cooker on, could face up to three years in prison and fines up to $250,000 if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.

The charges specify that the company and the two men willfully violated rules that require implementing a safety plan, rules for workers entering confined spaces, and a procedure to keep machinery or equipment turned off if someone’s working on it.

The state’s occupational safety agency previously cited the San Diego-based company for failing to properly assess the danger to employees working in large ovens and fined it $74,000.

Bumble Bee Foods faces a maximum fine of $1.5 million but the company has appealed the penalties, stating that it  has improved its safety program after the tragedy.

“We remain devastated by the loss of our colleague Jose Melena in the tragic accident,” the company said in a statement. “We disagree with and are disappointed by the charges filed by the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.”

61 comments:

AbokiDaWarriBoy said...

Okpemu! Phewww

Unknown said...

Mogbe

Unknown said...

Cook ke?? Okija shrine

Anonymous said...

How will Melane be performing maintenance and a co-worker will proceed with work without a "permit to work"? What sort of story is this? I bet this company has been breaching good coy working ethics years before now. That's the only way this kinda mistake could happen

Unknown said...

So unfortunate he died as a result of such carelessness. Rip to him.

Unknown said...

Gush! Such painful death...carelessness in the highest order!

Unknown said...

Its a horribles mistake tho... I don't think they shud charged them tho

mel20 said...

Wow! Such carelessness, hope it wasn't a plan to make humans out of that tuna for consumption of masses.

Pidgin Mistress said...

Hmm. RIP to d dead

Unknown said...

Wtf! Unbelievable 😢 so sad. RIP

ify said...

My Goodness... dis is seriousl. Dey need to rut in jail for doing that

Innocentia Annie said...

RIP to the dead

Unknown said...

Rest in peace to the dead.
Stupid mistake.

Anonymous said...

My fellow safety officers on LIB. Wrote my IGC exam last week Friday

Anonymous said...

So sad,RIP to the dead

Unknown said...

What a painful death Jose Melena got. May his soul rest in peace

Unknown said...

Rip. Cruel world

NaijaDeltaBabe said...

Haba! Dis is ridiculous

Green said...

What a mess. RIP to the guy. Hope they will discard that pressure cooker and buy a new one

FOLARIN• said...

You're very smart

Unknown said...

He died a painful death, RIP

Anonymous said...

Ode shut up. Work permit for what? Pls read the story well before u come and form I too know for here. Mumu

AMIJEZ said...

Haba,what kind of carelessness is this. Safety rules was not applied.

Anonymous said...

ndi iberibe


MISSVEE

Unknown said...

1000 ways to die !

Order for your beautiful bedspread @ 79AEFD3B. Delivery available nationwide.

Anonymous said...

Jesus! Dt was wrong...Rip to d dead..

Ogochi said...

The poor man died painfully. So sad. Be at peace Mr Jose.

Unknown said...

Hmmm a sad 1

Bill said...

Hmmm... Dia ris Gawd

Misswhizz said...

Rip 2 him

Unknown said...

Hahaha. What happened to safety rules? At 270 degrees before they discovered. Chai, the man actually met hell on earth. May his soul rest in peace.








Busy Fingers.

Juleslouis said...

Wow! Job procedures r so important and i agree with d sentencing. The procedures r there to be strictly followed! And if they had followed it, d man would still be alive.

Unknown said...

Oh no RIP

OSINANL said...

Na waoh...
Cook ke?

Anonymous said...

The unfortunate has happened. I believe the company does not have a good safety culture practice. Otherwise Melena would have done LOTO(Lock Out Tag Out) on the machine before embarking on maintenance. This is the only way the incident would have been prevented.

LuchiDataLady said...

Factory workers always put themselves at risk

TAMARA SPLASH said...

Nawah

Unknown said...

Haa...gbese.RIP to im

Subomi said...

whatever happens that person is dead! sad

Unknown said...

Busy, can't read but from d caption, this is so disheartening. What a cruel and painful fate, no one volunteers to be d endangered specie. God rest his gentle soul. Amen

Unknown said...

Carelessness.....what a big shame. RIP

Unknown said...

RIP 2 him, dey should had known he was carrying out maintenance dat day

AbiolaVJ said...

True

Unknown said...

Information is very important in maintenace....

. <<100%Nigerian>>

ary said...

What a f*cked up way to die! In a sane society you even get sued for accidental deaths. Damn, if Nigeria better lots of people go frustrate

KWEEN said...

When the oven was turned on, the man inside couldn't scream? So unfortunate.

ogeee said...

Such a big mistake,RIP tho!

Kaunar Allah said...

Mogbe!!!!

Anonymous said...

COOKED?GOD FORBID..IMAGINE A TEMPERATURE DEGREE OF 36-40 NOT TO TALK OF 270 AS STATED...CHAI, D MAN SAW DEATH, I BLIF HE SCREAMD BUT HS VOICE CUDNT B HEARD,..SUCH A PITY..RIP TO HIM.TOMJERRYSWIT

Unknown said...

God! Cooked?

yawanow said...

Painful death.

talk2frankky said...

Did you read the story?
Seems like you hurriedly post a comment just to get noticed.

White said...

Chineke ooo... Them don chop belle full.. 😁😝😝

Unknown said...

What a way to die. RIPP



#TeamBlessed#

Unknown said...

This is very unfortunate, a very costly mistake

Unknown said...

This is very unfortunate, a very costly mistake

Unknown said...

I feel the pain of the guy cooked pain...

That Function Gurl said...

This is a TERRIBLE way to die!!! So sad!

Funky baby said...

kai!!! what a terrible way to die.

Unknown said...

This two men are heartless what a painful melenz died

Unknown said...

Only God knows how many tuna cans exported to us have charred human flesh inside.

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