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San Diego — A U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to remove maximum line speeds in pork-processing plants “will translate into even more illness and injury” among workers, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington — Better outreach, collaboration and information sharing among federal agencies is needed to improve worker safety in the meat and poultry slaughter and processing industries, the Government Accountability Office concluded in a recently released report.

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 – Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) says lawmakers who cite concerns about worker safety when opposing his call to increase poultry-processing line speeds are willfully ignoring scientific data.

Anchorage, AK – Vessel disasters and falls overboard are the primary hazards experienced by workers in commercial fishing – an industry with a fatality rate 29 times higher than the national average – according to a recent NIOSH analysis of four U.S. regions.

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.

Washington – In response to a stakeholder’s request, NIOSH has extended the comment period on a Request for Information on peracetic acid, according to a notice published in the June 1 Federal Register.

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.

Corvallis, OR – Injuries among seafood-processing workers in Oregon have eclipsed the statewide average, and the rate appears to be increasing, according to a recent study from Oregon State University.

From workers at microwave popcorn plants to coffee roasters, people who work with the flavoring chemicals diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione may be at risk for bronchiolitis obliterans, an irreversible disease also known as “popcorn lung.”