An immigrant’s death at an Oklahoma poultry plant highlights dangerous conditions for workers

An immigrant’s death at an Oklahoma poultry plant highlights dangerous conditions for workers

Current and former employees describe a punishing pace of work and questionable safety standards at a Heavener plant where recent immigrants fill a constant need for laborers.

An immigrant’s death at an Oklahoma poultry plant highlights dangerous conditions for workers

This story was originally published by The Frontier. It was just before 3 a.m. in March when the hum of machinery at the OK Foods poultry plant in Heavener, Oklahoma, was broken by a haunting scream, according to one worker.  That night, the sanitation crew included 49-year-old Leovigildo Ramirez Castillo, a father and immigrant from Mexico. While working above a massive auger — a screw-shaped machine that strips meat from chicken bones — Ramire…