Workplace Safety and Health in Slaughterhouses

Physical Hazards of Slaughterhouse Workers

The Nature of Slaughterhouse Work

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Diseases

Trauma

Burns

Hearing

Safeguards

Ergonomics

Dangerous Equipment

Reporting and Organizational Culture

Slaughterhouses are among the most hazardous workplace environments, and represent a significant challenge for industrial hygienists. Musculoskeletal injuries are the most common form, and are typically related to repetitive stress. Workers in this industry are asked to perform routine tasks at a sustained high rate of speed, and the use of advanced ergonomics is not universal in the industry. Trauma injuries occur at a much higher rate than normal in this industry and these are usually related to the sharp blades and heavy equipment. Around two-thirds of musculoskeletal injuries are serious enough to necessitate time off work, and many workers will work through chronic pains without reporting it. Indeed, while rates of injuries in this industry have diminished significantly, there are reasons to believe that some of this reduction is due to the increase in non-reporting of injuries. There are many other significant injury risks as well, including chemical burns, psychological trauma, hearing damage and exposure to disease and pathogens.

For the repetitive stress injuries, the most common remediation is ergonomics. Ergonomic solutions can benefit the companies as well, by allowing workers to perform tasks more quickly but with less injury risk. However, the organizational culture in this industry is a barrier to improving safety conditions. The industry emphasizes high volume throughput that often runs counter to ergonomic principle. Furthermore, worker safety has never really been taken that seriously as an issue. Many workers are unskilled and uneducated, and this work represents a steady job at above minimum wage. These workers are typically disempowered, and this affects reporting of injuries and it also affects the likelihood of workers to enforce what few rights they do have.

Overall, the slaughterhouse industry presents significant challenges to the industrial hygiene industry. Nearly every aspect of this industry creates some form of risk, and as a result there are a number of solutions that need to be implemented. Common practices like protecting dangerous mechanical equipment are recommended, as well as ergonomic best practices. Training needs to be improved dramatically in this industry, and the organizational culture with respect to workplace safety and hygiene need to be improved significantly as well.

Introduction

Ever since the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle in 1906, attention has been paid to the working conditions in slaughterhouses. That book depicts turn-of-the-century slaughterhouses in immigrant areas of Chicago, and the picture is grim. Working conditions are described as being horrific, and the slaughterhouse managers essentially take advantage of immigrants desperate for work, presenting them with grim working conditions, low pay and gruelling hours. On those factors, it does not seem as though much has changed in the slaughterhouse and meatpacking industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that over 86,000 people work in the slaughterhouse industry nationwide. The average wage for a worker in this industry is $25,880 per year, or $12.44 per hour, so while these are not minimum wage jobs, they are low-paying jobs, especially given the working conditions. The bottom quartile of workers makes $10.31 per hour or worse, so there are many jobs in the industry that remain minimum wage (BLS, 2014). Jobs in this industry are concentrated on the Midwest and the South, where more animals are raised and in many cases were regulations are minimal.

Slaughterhouse workers face a challenging working environment. The job is physically laborious, the equipment is deadly, sharp and very dangerous, animal carcasses are heavy, there is constant exposure to pathogens, and these workers also face significant psychological trauma (Dillard, 2008). The meat industry is described as "a gigantic maze of factory farms, slaughterhouses and packaging plants ... that kills and processes over 9 billion animals every year" (Dillard, 2008). The industry generally employees low-wage workers with relatively low levels of education. This is because the work is generally low-skill work, but also because the industry working conditions are generally awful, and only the most desperate will work under these conditions.

The Nature of Slaughterhouse Work

Slaughterhouse work is highly-repetitive, violent and fast-paced. Workers are expected to process large amounts of animals in a very short period of time. "Some cutters are forced to make five cuts every fifteen seconds," a pace that brings about a large number of injuries. Some reports have that 25% of workers in the industry are injured or struck ill every year (Dillard, 2008). Typical injuries in meatpacking include carpal tunnel syndrome, musculoskeletal injuries, all the way to life-threatening injuries. The pace of work demanded by bosses and the use of dangerous tools exacerbates the problem. The knives used are typically very sharp, so that they can easily slice through bone. The hours are also long, and the poverty of the workers makes them likely to take long hours, work overtime, work tired, and also to be disempowered with respect to speaking up against unsafe working conditions. The meatpacking industry is one of the most prominent in research into carpal tunnel syndrome in the workplace, as can be expected when routine physical tasks are performed at a rate of once every three seconds for forty hours per week (Palmer, Harris & Coggon, 2007).

Other conditions common within the industry contribute to the risks faced by workers. In some cases, working conditions include prolonged exposure to cold, as processed meat is typically refrigerated or frozen for further processing or shipment. Irregular schedules can also exist, creating concentrated levels of work that can exacerbate injury (Messing et al., 1993).

Exposure to blood and live animals is another risk. The inside of a slaughterhouse has been described as "a place of blood, pain and death" (Dillard, 2008). The rapid pace of processing in the slaughterhouse typically results in a disregard for standard safety procedures, and the animals in particular often face gruesome deaths (Dillard, 2008). In particular poultry slaughterhouses are noted for their horrific conditions, as rules regarding the slaughter of chickens are looser than those for mammals, and as a result the common treatment of chickens in slaughterhouses would be illegal if applied to cows and pigs (Dillard, 2008). As a result, slaughterhouse workers are exposed to and participate in horrific acts of violence imposed upon living beings, often resulting in extensive psychological trauma (Dillard, 2008).

OSHA cites a number of hazards that arise from slaughterhouse work. Injury and illness rates are 2.5 times the national average for this industry. Serious injuries requiring work restrictions or days away from work are more than three times the national average in this industry. The largest class of injuries is from musculoskeletal disorders, and many of these are serious injuries. There are also biological hazards associated with this work (OSHA, 2015). Other issues include hearing damage, machinery issues and dangerous equipment as well as issues relating to the use of ammonia.

The rate at which workers are injured in this industry is declining, and doing so faster than the rate of overall workplace injuries in the U.S. The rate of the decline, however, reflects the higher starting point, and the industry-wide injury and illness rates are still double the U.S. average for all industries. Strains, tendonitis and cuts all have dropped significantly, as have rates of chemical burns and amputations. From 1992 to 2002, 229 workers in the industry suffered fatal injuries on the job. It is worth noting, however, that the incidence of injury and illness is widely thought to be underreported, in particular at facilities using undocumented immigrants as laborers, because of worker fears of deportation, and across the industry on account of general disempowerment and poor education levels of workers -- they are not equipped to stand up for themselves in many cases. Another issue that with greater attention ot safety issues, companies have offered financial incentives for units to have injury-free periods, a practice that unfortunately incentivizes the non-reporting of injuries (GAO, 2005).

On the issue of underreporting injuries there are a couple of other dynamics to consider. First, underreporting of injuries distorts the advances that have been made with respect to safety in the industry. Second, non-reporting of injuries increases the risk that the underlying factors that contributed to those injuries will not be addressed; the injuries are more likely to be repeated as remediation cannot occur. Further, the employees in this industry are 42% Hispanic (GAO, 2005). It has been found that Hispanics report a much lower rate of injury than any other demographic group, and many observers feel that this is because of the rise in the use of undocumented immigrants; people who risk deportation are unlikely to report anything to anybody in a position of authority (Culp, Brooks, Rupe and Zwerling, 2008). Thus, the success of this industry in reducing injuries may well be overstated, as the use of undocumented workers is believed to have increased significantly over the past twenty years.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

As this paper is concerned with the physical hazards of slaughterhouse work, less attention will be paid to the psychological effects of this work, even though it is an industrial hygiene issue. Only where it interacts or relates to the physical hazards will it be given further attention. Within the category of physical hazards, there are several that have been identified in studies regarding the issue. Musculoskeletal injuries are among the most common type, due to the physical nature of the work, and the rapid pace of repetitive motion over prolonged periods of time. Carpal tunnel, tendonitis and white finger. Meatpacking workers are at particular risk due to the weight of the animals being processed and the thickness of their bones, such that upwards of 51 employees per 100 suffer injury in a given year (Dillard, 2008).

Musculoskeletal ailments are one of the most common forms of injury amount slaughterhouse workers. The repetitive nature of the work creates significant ergonomic issues for workers in the industry. Industrial hygienists are often tasked with improving the ergonomic conditions in a workplace, and slaughterhouses are among the more challenging environments in which to do this. There has been debate among scholars whether it is more effective to lower workloads in order to lower the stress on shoulders, arms and hands, or whether increased strength training can resolve these issues (Sundstrup, et al., 2013). In best case situations, professional ergonomists are used to improve working conditions.

Disease

Animals are inherently dirty, and the animals that typically go through industrial slaughterhouses are exceptionally so. They have typically lived their entire lives indoors, with no access to sunlight or fresh air, and in cramped conditions. Disease and injury are common among animals that arrive at a typical slaughterhouse for processing. Exposure to so many animals in the course of duties increase the risk for slaughterhouse workers to contract a wide range of diseases. The extant literature identifies several.

A more moderate disease is dermatitis. Irritant contact dermatitis is a common ailment among slaughterhouse workers, especially those who process pigs. Another common skin ailment is known as "gut eczema," which arises from contact with intestines and mesenteric fat. Furthermore, occupational allergic contact dermatitis is common among those who routinely handle animals. The wide range of bacteria and viruses found in the slaughterhouse environment dramatically increase the risk to slaughterhouse workers of contracting skin problems (Veien, 2012). This problem is difficult to resolve. Thousands of animals pass through slaughterhouses daily and they are the underlying cause of skin issues. Animals being inherently dirty, it is difficult to tell if remedies at the farm level would be of any particular use. However, there is a high level of integration within the industry, so there is potential for resolution, if a solution can be found. Commonly, however, skin issues are viewed as minor in the context of slaughterhouse worker health and safety, and the use of rubber gloves is a common means of reducing the risk. Not much attention is paid to this issue beyond that.

In addition, there are a number of other illnesses that are found in animal tissue and blood, to which workers are exposed in the course of their duties. Many slaughterhouse workers have low education levels, and many also lack English language fluency. Thus, there are not only communication barriers that exist between management and the workers in these facilities, but many who work in these facilities are not necessarily among the best and brightest of workers available, to say the least. These are vulnerable workers who must be trained on issues such as contamination. This is a food safety issue, but also a human safety issue as well. The level of training on general slaughterhouse hygiene and on specific issues related to blood and tissue varies from one facility to the next, but it was found in one study that 89% of workers in the industry had no training in safe food handling, putting the facility and its workers at significant contamination risk (Mothershaw et al., 2006). Understanding the risks is the first step in preventing illness and injury in the workplace.

Studies have been conducted to assess the risks associated with specific viruses or bacteria. For example, slaughterhouse work has been implication in toxoplasmosis and Q fever, owing to the presence of T. gondii and C. burneti. A study of abattoir workers in Belo Horizonte, Brazil found that 72% of employees were serologically positive for T. gondii and 29% for C. burneti. Workers across all areas of the facility were found to have high levels of exposure to these toxins, whether they worked in the corral or on the killing floor. Significant percentages of the cattle that were processed were found to have C. burneti and T. gondii, which is how the workers acquired these. Occasional exposure to cattle does not convey the risk of infection, but daily exposure to chronically-infected cattle does create risk, making this specifically an occupational hazard (Riemann et al., 1975). These are just two of the many bacteria and virus that live on or in animals to which slaughterhouse workers are exposed on an continuous basis.

Dysmenorrhea has also been associated with slaughterhouse work. This is a menstrual condition, and it has been found that exposure to cold and intense physical workloads in particular have been associated with an increase in its incidence among female slaughterhouse workers, again highlighting the physical toll that this work typically takes on its workers (Messing et al., 1993).

Trauma

OSHA (2015) notes that the rate of serious injury among slaughterhouse workers is more than triple that of the U.S. industrial average. Serious injuries make up a significant portion of the musculoskeletal injuries suffered by workers in this industry, and that is the largest class of injuries. Thus, it is not simply a matter of occasional tendonitis, but the risk of blunt trauma injuries is also very high in slaughterhouse work. Around 20-30 people die each year in the industry. They are cut with sharp knives or mechanical blades, crushed in equipment, for example while cleaning it, or otherwise suffer fatal injury in mishaps. Trauma is a significant risk in this industry to begin with, but the fast pace of work, the sharp blades, the crowded conditions and overall fatigue all serve to elevate the risk associated with trauma such that fatal injuries are relatively commonplace.

Burns

Burns are another category of risk faced by slaughterhouse workers. The need for sterilization at such facilities necessitates the use of cleaners such as ammonia and chlorine, which can be hazardous with overexposure. Anecdotal evidence suggests that overexposure to chlorine can cause blistering, burning of internal organs such as lungs, and other serious injury (Schlosser, 2001). Eyes are especially at risk from burns, as chemicals and steam are used to sterilize plants (GAO, 2005). Even when lungs are not burned, they can be damaged through exposure to various chemicals, leading to illness and adverse medical conditions later in life.

Hearing

Many animal processing facilities are very loud. Animals are in various states of pain and terror and can be loud, especially pigs. Many facilities also utilize heavy machinery to perform a number of functions. This can create conditions whereby workers have prolonged exposure to high decibel levels. Without proper protection, hearing damage can result (GAO, 2005).

Safeguards

The improvements over the past twenty years in the industry arise from a number of efforts. Typically, workers don several items of safety equipment in the course of their duties. Bump caps are used to protect against injuries to the head, which can include cuts and concussions from both animals and equipment. Hair nets are used to keep hair out of machinery, as the consequences of that could easily be fatal. Earplugs and safety goggles are used to address problems with loud machinery and chemicals respectively (GAO, 2005). It is possible, however, that inadequate goggles could fail to full protect a worker from the effects of chemical exposure to the eyes. Many workers wear rubber gloves, aprons and boots to reduce their exposure level to blood on the job. Arm guards are used to defend against injuries to the lower arm.

These items of safety equipment, however, do not address all of the common injuries. For example, most workers have minimal if any protection for their torso. Trunk and back injuries are common among slaughterhouse workers. They are kicked by live animals, exposed to heavy moving containers, machinery, animal carcasses and other heavy objects. Injuries occur regularly from falls from multilevel walkways, especially in wetter environments and from slipping on wet floors (GAO, 2005). Lifting heavy objects, strains, and repetitive lifting all result in back injuries, and safety equipment is usually a poor defense against back injuries.

Gloves protect hands against blood, but they provide fairly flimsy protection against cuts. The need for manual dexterity makes it difficult to balance guarding against cuts with the need for dexterity to deliver precise cuts, and at a high rate of frequency. Such gloves do exist, but are expensive and not in common usage in the industry, where simple disposable latex gloves are more common.

There are also limited protections for the lungs. Workers often have access to face masks, but their use is not always mandatory. Facemasks can prevent ingesting certain types of things, such as blood droplets, but are ineffective at defending against all of the pathogens to which a slaughterhouse worker might be exposed. Even workers who work with cleaning chemicals are not always given proper protection for their lungs and internal organs.

Ergonomics

Many of the injuries, in particular the repetitive musculoskeletal ones, are best addressed through ergonomics. Greater attention to ergonomics since the early 1990s has allowed for the rate of such injuries to be reduced significantly. However, this is still a common injury class and remains at a rate much higher than the rate for the general population (GAO, 2005). OSHA (2015) recommends ergonomics programs as among the most important safeguards for workers in this industry. Ergonomics is a specialized field, but it intersects with that of industrial hygiene in situations like this. Body maps are the first step in an ergonomics program, as they can determine where the greatest risks lie with each job, based on data gathered throughout the industry (Messing et al., 2008). Once the risks are understood, ergonomists can then focus on finding better ways to perform the tasks that are creating the most problems.

Ergonomic training is also more sustainable than strength-building exercises (Sundstrup et al., 2013). While the latter can be valuable in the short-term, there is a difference between strength and endurance, and people who work the hours that most slaughterhouse workers put in are unlikely to have the energy to engage in such exercises routinely. They are likely to lapse, especially when they already suffer pain, and that makes exercise a less practical approach. Ergonomics remains the best approach to managing repetitive stress injury risk in the slaughterhouse environment.

A comprehensive ergonomics program requires not only an ergonomics professional to assist with the work design, but the resolution of several other issues as well. For example, training levels need to improve. Where it has been found that most workers in the industry receive basically no safety training, that will need to change. Even the supervisors will need to receive training. Furthermore, the language barriers within the industry need to be effectively broken down. In this industry, because it is common that workers are immigrants (legal or not is irrelevant at this point), a number of different languages are spoken. Supervisors may be Anglophone, and the English skills of the workers may be poor. While it is fairly reasonable that immediate supervisors in many facilities have Spanish-language skills, workers who speak other languages will inevitably receive even less training and guidance than their peers.

Dangerous Equipment

A number of issues arise in the slaughterhouse environment with respect to dangerous equipment. The use of sharp blades is commonplace in the industry, yet the demands placed on the workers for pace often result in the use of dull blades. Workers report that they are unable to take time to sharpen blades, and by the end of their shifts are working with dull blades, which changes the way that they work, their cutting style for example, since they are still expected to maintain the same pace (Schlosser, 2001). Ultimately, this exposes the workers to various musculoskeletal injuries but it also creates problems with respect to cutting injuries, as duller blades are more likely to slip. A simple method such as having a person whose sole job is to keep blades sharp and then rotate those blades on and off the floor would alleviate this problem, but that does not appear to be industry practice.