$6m payout after worker burned inside industrial oven

A California food company will pay a record $6m (€5.4m) to settle criminal charges filed after a worker burned to death nearly three years ago inside an industrial oven packed with canned tuna.

The settlement represents the largest payout in the criminal prosecution of a workplace safety case involving a single victim in California, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Under the settlement agreements, Bumble Bee Foods will spend $3m to buy new ovens at its plant in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Fe Springs that employees will not be required to enter and implement other safety measures.