Items Tagged with 'Poultry worker safety'

Washington — A controversial U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that would permit line speeds at certain poultry processing plants to increase to 175 birds a minute from the current 140 is under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service in April approved 15 poultry processing plants’ requests to increase line speeds 25% – despite reported cases of COVID-19 among workers and at least one fatality related to the ongoing pandemic, according to a new policy brief from the National Employment Law Project.

Washington — Two days after OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued voluntary interim guidance aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 among workers in the meatpacking and poultry-processing industries, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950 and declared the facilities “critical infrastructure” in an Executive Order intended to keep meatpacking facilities open.

Washington — Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) is urging OSHA to investigate reported workplace safety violations at the Sanderson Farms poultry plant in Bryan, TX.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service will allow poultry-processing plants to increase line speeds if they meet certain criteria, even as critics claim the move will expose workers to injuries and was made without public input.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service has denied a National Chicken Council petition seeking unrestricted line speeds in poultry-processing plants.

Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is among four lawmakers calling for Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to address their concerns over OSHA’s responses to a Government Accountability Office report, issued in November, on the health and safety of meat and poultry industry workers.

Washington – Poultry workers and officials from 13 nonprofit organizations and unions met with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Oct. 16 to urge the department to reject an industry petition to allow faster and unrestricted line speeds in production plants, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Washington – A group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), is urging Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to reject a renewed call to increase line speeds in poultry-processing plants.

New York – Every day, 27 workers suffer on-the-job amputations or injuries that require hospitalization, according to a recent report from the National Employment Law Project.