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Company accused of hiring children — including a 13-year-old left with chemical burns — for 'hazardous' factory work like cleaning beef bone saws

Jordan Hart
Sun, November 13, 2022 

Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images

The US Labor Department filed a complaint against PSSI following a three-month investigation into unlawful child labor claims.

The department is accusing the sanitation contractor of having employees as young as 13 working 'hazardous' overnight shifts.

PSSI emphasized its 'zero tolerance' for violating its policy of employing anyone under 18 years old.

An industrial cleaning service is accused of using dozens of children to work dangerous overnight shifts causing injuries, including a chemical burn suffered by a 13-year-old, according to the US Department of Labor.

A news release Wednesday from the DOL said Packers Sanitation Services Inc. employed at least 31 children — ages 13 to 17 — in "hazardous occupations." The DOL has filed a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction against the food safety sanitation service following an investigation.

Minors performed jobs like cleaning power equipment, such as bone and meat saws, during overnight shifts, according to the DOL, and many of them — including the 13-year-old — suffered burns and other injuries on the job.

The department specifically named PSSI contracts with JBS USA, a beef slaughtering and meatpacking facility in Nebraska, and turkey processing plant Turkey Valley Farms in Minnesota.

The Wage and Hour division said it began investigating PSSI, which is headquartered in Wisconsin, in August after being tipped off to potential violations of child labor laws.

"Federal laws were established decades ago to prevent employers from profiting by putting children in harm's way," said Wage and Hour regional administrator Michael Lazzeri in a statement.

"Taking advantage of children, exposing them to workplace dangers – and interfering with a federal investigation – demonstrates Packers Sanitation Services Inc.'s flagrant disregard for the law and for the well-being of young workers," he said.

PSSI was founded in 1973. It employs around 17,000 workers to provide contract services including cleaning and pest prevention to about 700 food processing facilities in the US, the release said. According to the company's official site, the staff includes food sanitors, microbiologists, equipment engineers and safety specialists.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, minors younger than 14-years-old are prohibited from working and 14- and 15 year olds aren't allowed to work later than 9 p.m. during the summer months and 7 p.m. after Labor Day.

In its complaint filed in the US District Court of Nebraska, the department alleges the company intimidated minor workers, and "deleted and manipulated employee files" to interfere with the investigation.

But a PSSI spokesperson said in a statement to Insider Thursday that it has a "zero tolerance" policy around hiring employees under 18.

"PSSI has an absolute company-wide prohibition against the employment of anyone under the age of 18 and zero tolerance for any violation of that policy -- period," the statement read. The company verifies employees thoroughly with "document verification, biometrics, and multiple layers of audits."

"While rogue individuals could of course seek to engage in fraud or identity theft, we are confident in our company's strict compliance policies and will defend ourselves vigorously against these claims."

A representative for PSSI said the company was surprised by the Labor Department's complaint as its corporate office was "cooperating with their inquiry, producing extensive documents and responses."