Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Nearly every worker interviewed for this
report bore physical signs of a serious injury
suffered from working in a meat or poultry
plant. Their accounts of life in the factories
graphically explain those injuries. Automated
lines carrying dead animals and their parts
for disassembly move too fast for worker
safety. Repeating thousands of cutting
motions during each work shift puts enormous
traumatic stress on workers' hands, wrists,
arms, shoulders and backs. They often work in
close quarters creating additional dangers for
themselves and coworkers. They often receive
little training and are not always given the
safety equipment they need. They are often
forced to work long overtime hours under pain
of dismissal if they refuse.
23
A special investigative report in 2003 by the
Omaha World-Herald
documented death, lost
limbs, and other serious injuries in Nebraska
meatpacking industry plants since 1999. Much
of the evidence involved night shift cleaners,
most of them undocumented workers. OSHA
documents dryly recorded what happened:
•“Cleaner killed when hog-splitting saw is
activated.”
•“Cleaner dies when he is pulled into a
conveyer and crushed.”
•“Cleaner loses legs when a worker activates
the grinder in which he is standing.”
