A major fire occurred at a chicken processing plant in North Carolina, USA, resulting in the death of 25 workers. The main outcome of the investigation into the accident was that the consequences of the fire resulted from serious shortcomings in the management of safety, including that the plant had never received a safety inspection.

While the investigation was in progress, another fire occurred at a different, totally unrelated plant at which very similar processes were carried out. In this case, there were no personal injuries at all, and this was judged to be so because the safety precautions were fully effective and very much what should have been in place at the North Carolina facility. It was a clear demonstration of how good safety standards pay by saving lives and, in the long run, enhancing production