(L.A.) Bryan Canu Joj, 19, Died in a Burrito Factory

Case Number: 2025-11283

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 19-year-old Latino male that occurred at a company in Vernon.

The coroner’s office identified the young man as Bryan Canu Joj.

Manner of Death: Accident

Cause of Death: Combined Blunt- and Sharp-Force Traumatic Injuries

RIP BRAYAN NEFTALI OTONIEL CANU JOJ (August 16, 2005 – July 13, 2025)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Sunday.

The decedent died at around 9:30 p.m. after he was apparently pulled into a meat grinder at a food processing facility where he worked.

Vernon PD said he was was part of the sanitation team at Tina’s Burritos, located in the 2600 block of Vernon Avenue. The parent company is Camino Real Foods, Inc. of Long Beach.

He was cleaning the machine when it unexpectedly activated.

“We are heartbroken to confirm that a sanitation worker lost his life on Sunday night, July 13, 2025, while performing sanitation duties at our Vernon facility. He was cleaning an empty kettle that was being sanitized and prepped for the next day’s production run,” the company shared in a statement. “Despite the immediate response of coworkers and emergency personnel, he tragically passed away at the scene.”

• An industrial kettle heats and mixes food and may have internal paddles or blades for stirring, but these blades generally do not pose sharp cutting dangers.
• A meat grinder has sharp blades designed specifically for cutting and grinding meat, which can cause sharp-force injuries.

Failure of lockout/tagout (LOTO) refers to the breakdown or omission in properly applying the safety procedure that ensures dangerous equipment is fully shut off and cannot be restarted during maintenance or repair. Lockout/tagout is a critical safety process used to isolate and control hazardous energy sources in machinery or equipment to prevent accidental startup or release of energy that can cause injury.

• Lockout involves physically locking the energy-isolating device (like a switch or valve) in a safe position to prevent energizing the equipment.
• Tagout involves placing a visible warning tag on the equipment to inform others that the equipment must not be turned on.
• Proper LOTO requires that only the worker performing maintenance holds the key to the lock, ensuring control over when the equipment can be restarted.

The Cal/OSHA investigation will provide a comprehensive, authoritative report on the causes and safety factors involved, clarifying the exact nature of the equipment and the accident circumstances.

California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is the state agency responsible for protecting workers’ health and safety on the job within California. It operates under the California Department of Industrial Relations and enforces workplace safety standards, conducts inspections, investigates accidents, and provides training and consultation to prevent injuries and illnesses at work.

* Canu and Joj are distinctly Guatemalan surnames.

The teen’s family in Sololá, Guatemala, held a service a week and half after his passing.