Taylor Farms Failed to Submit Injury Reports for Facilities Where Workers Died, Reuters Finds

Taylor Farms, North America's largest salad producer, failed to submit federally required workplace injury reports for at least four facilities where workers suffered fatal or serious injuries in recent years, according to a Reuters analysis of federal records published August 26. The California-based company filed annual injury logs for only five to seven of 17 facilities required to report from 2021 to 2025, well below the 78% industry average calculated from U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration data and 2023 census figures.

Pattern of Non-Compliance Spans Fatal Incidents

The reporting gaps include a Taylor Farms vegetable processing plant in Swedesboro, New Jersey, where a worker died in 2025 from injuries suffered while cleaning equipment that scalds produce in hot water. OSHA levied a fine exceeding $1 million in November 2025 for "willfully and repeatedly" violating safety requirements at the facility, according to a Labor Department news release. Taylor Farms has disputed the citations without publicly disclosing its reasoning.

Another facility missing recent injury logs is the company's North Kingstown, Rhode Island processing plant, where 13 workers were hospitalized in November following an ammonia leak. OSHA inspectors proposed $23,000 in citations, which Taylor Farms also disputed.

Since 2021, OSHA and state safety regulators have assessed nearly $1.8 million in citations against Taylor Farms related to machine hazards, amputations, and failures to properly train employees, many of whom the company hires through temporary staffing agencies.

Enforcement Gap Masks Workplace Hazards

OSHA requires all but the smallest worksites in higher-hazard industries to submit annual injury tallies by March 2 each year. That higher-hazard industry list includes virtually all Taylor Farms worksites—farms, vegetable processing factories, and warehouses—according to OSHA inspection records reviewed by Reuters.

"These records are not just paperwork," said Jessica Martinez, executive director of the nonprofit National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. "The annual injury logs are an essential tool for regulators and the public to identify and prevent hazards."

OSHA can penalize companies up to $16,550 per reporting violation. The agency did not respond to Reuters' request for comment about whether Taylor Farms' reporting lapses reflect insufficient enforcement following the company's repeated failures to file injury logs.

Perishable food manufacturers, which often work with heavy machinery, have a higher injury rate than U.S. private industry as a whole, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The gaps make it difficult for the public to assess workplace safety at Taylor Farms, which operates 30 facilities and employs 25,000 workers, safety watchdog groups told Reuters.

Company Acknowledges Gaps After Years of Failures

Taylor Farms acknowledged the reporting gaps in a statement to Reuters: "Employee safety is a core operational priority across Taylor Fresh Foods' 30 facilities and 25,000 team members, and gaps in the electronic submission of our 300A log summary forms have been addressed." The company said it recently invested in new workplace safety reporting software but did not respond to follow-up requests for the injury logs or details about what they showed.

Since 2016, Taylor Farms has disputed more than half of its OSHA citations, according to Reuters' review of agency records. The food manufacturing sector typically disputes slightly less than a quarter of citations. Taylor Farms and OSHA did not respond to questions about the company's pattern of disputing citations.

The reporting review comes as Taylor Farms faces scrutiny over a cyclospora outbreak that killed two people and sickened thousands across the country. U.S. authorities have linked the outbreak to Taylor Farms lettuce from Mexico.

Context and Outlook

The Taylor Farms case illustrates how incomplete injury reporting undermines OSHA's enforcement capacity and public accountability mechanisms at a time when workplace injury rates in some sectors reach seven times the national average. OSHA has stated in rulemaking documents and public releases that electronic submission of injury logs allows the agency to focus enforcement efforts and ensures public access to safety data.

Workers and labor organizers can use the reporting gaps as use in demanding stronger safety protocols and transparency from employers. OSHA's maximum penalty of $16,550 per violation remains low relative to the potential cost of comprehensive compliance, creating minimal financial deterrent for large employers. Union contracts typically include stronger injury reporting and safety audit provisions than federal minimums require.

The company's pattern of disputing more than half its citations—double the industry norm—signals a broader enforcement challenge: without robust penalties and consistent follow-through, mandatory reporting regimes rely on voluntary compliance from employers with direct financial incentives to avoid disclosure.