poultry workers | The Pump Handle

FOIA Final USDA poultry rule: Line speeds stay the same, but no word from OSHA; food safety advocates call it a step backwards

August 1, 2014 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

For 17 years, Salvadora Roman deboned chickens on the processing line at Wayne Farms in Decatur, Alabama. Because of the repetitive movement and speed of the processing line, Roman developed a chronic and painful hand injury that affects her ability to do even the most basic household chores. About three years ago, she was fired from the plant for taking time off work to visit a doctor for the injury she sustained on the line.

Food Safety & Nutrition Wayne Farms and Employer Solutions Staffing subject of Alabama poultry workers’ safety complaints

April 29, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Nine poultry workers filed safety and whistleblower complaints with the Labor Department against the country’s fifth largest poultry company and the temp staffing agency that hired some of them.

Food Safety & Nutrition Don’t be fooled by the safety talk

April 15, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

Two recent incidents reminded me of what a worker said about “safety talks.”

Food Safety & Nutrition Poultry workers appeal to White House, USDA must abandon new poultry slaughter rule

February 27, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

The Obama Administration still has time to abandon its ill-conceived new regulation on poultry inspection. We’ll see if the Administration decides to treat poultry workers better than the firms that employ them.

Food Safety & Nutrition Reality check on USDA’s claims about its plan to privatize poultry inspection

January 28, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The wisdom of USDA’s plan to privatize poultry inspection is striking newspaper editors as an unwise move. USDA is rebutting the opinion pieces, but their assertions need a dose of reality.

Food Safety & Nutrition Democratic Senators eager to screw African-American and Hispanic poultry workers

December 18, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

It’s bad enough having President Obama and his USDA pushing a new poultry inspection process that will injure workers. Now we have seven Democratic Senators who are also eager to screw the workers.

Food Safety & Nutrition Poultry industry says it’s being “framed as poster boy for unsafe workplaces”

November 25, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The poultry industry must have its head stuck in the chicken coop. With Thanksgiving nearly upon us, the industry is trying to convince the public that poultry-processing plants are great places to earn a living. The facts tell us something different.

Environmental Health USDA to poultry plant workers: no promise we’ll address line speed hazards

October 15, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 5Comment

USDA continues to insist that worker safety concerns are OSHA’s responsibility, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that its proposed rule to “modernize” poultry slaughter inspection with dizzying line speeds will injure workers.

Food Safety & Nutrition Senator Gillibrand introduces “Safe Meat & Poultry Act,” recognizes hazards for plant workers

September 19, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Senator Gillibrand’s “Safe Meat & Poultry Act” includes one short provision that really caught my eye. USDA would need to rely on OSHA’s determination on what is an appropriate line speed to ensure the health of plant workers is protected.

Occup Health News Roundup Occupational Health News Roundup

June 13, 2013 Liz Borkowski, MPH

A fire in a Chinese poultry plant with narrow halls and locked exits killed 120 workers; a NIOSH study finds high rates of carpal tunnel syndrome among poultry workers and fuels concerns that USDA’s proposed rule allowing line-speed increases will increase health risks to workers; and Congress takes steps toward addressing military sexual assault.