Groups file petition for safer meat processing line speeds; meat industry responds
The Southern Poverty Law Center and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a formal petition urging the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to better protect workers in poultry and meatpacking plants, where federal policies “allow workers to operate in hazardous conditions that often leave them with disabling injuries, illnesses and pain,” the SPLC says.
A release from the group states, “The groups petitioned OSHA to issue new work speed standards to protect the workers responsible for making the United States the largest producer of poultry and beef in the world. OSHA has general health and safety rules for workplaces but does not regulate processing line speeds that often operate at a punishing pace.