Are meat and poultry processing jobs becoming safer? The numbers seem to suggest they are. Injuries are down by almost half from 2004 to 2013, according to last year’s report Workplace Safety and Health: Additional Data Needed to Address Continued Hazards in the Meat and Poultry Industry,” from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Certainly, more can always be done to keep meat and poultry workplaces safe. Hazardous conditions such as exposure to chemicals and pathogens, injuries from machines and tools and repetitive injuries remain, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).