Date of incident: July 2023
Notice of incident number: 2023166520010
Employer: Egg farming company

Incident summary
In a barn at an egg production farm, an automated feed hopper travelled along a row of cages (colonies) for laying hens. A worker leaned into a colony, doing an unknown task. His upper body, positioned in the colony, was caught between the feed hopper and the housing of the colony. The worker sustained fatal injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• While working alone, worker caught between hen colony and feed hopper. The worker was working alone in the barn. When he became caught between the housing of the colony and the feed hopper, he was unable to free himself and died of his injuries.

Contributing factors

• Lack of safeguarding. The feeding system was not equipped with a safeguard to prevent workers from being caught in a pinch point. The worker was able to position himself in front of the feed hopper while the feeding system was operational, resulting in a crushing hazard. The employer did not identify the hazard resulting from the lack of safeguarding.
• Lack of lockout procedures. The employer did not have safe work procedures for de-energizing and locking out the feeding system prior to conducting a work activity that posed a risk of injury. The system should have been locked out before the worker was positioned in the path of the energized equipment. The employer did not identify the hazard created by workers working around an energized system.
• Lack of procedures or policies for working alone. The employer had no way to check on the worker while he was working alone in the barn, and no documented procedures or policies in place for working alone.

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