Company cited in farm worker's death

LA BELLE, MO. (AP)

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a company after three workers died over three years in northeast Missouri.

The Herald-Whig in Quincy, Illinois, reports that the agency also is seeking fines totaling $189,000 from Sharpe Holdings Inc.

The latest citations stem from last September's death of a 51-year-old worker who was ejected from a van. OSHA says there weren't safety belts, secure passenger seats or a latched rear door on the van used at the company's La Belle cattle and dairy farm.

A second worker died in September 2014 while doing maintenance work on an overhead door's pulley system. And the third worker died of complications in October 2012 after a tire rim struck him at the company's auto repair shop.

The company has contested the findings.