Safety and Health Guide for the Meatpacking Indust

GuidefortheMeatpackingIndustryU.S.DepartmentofLaborOccupationalSafetyandHealthAdministration1988OSHA3108Materialcontainedinthispublicationisinthepublicdomainandmaybereproduced,fullyorpartially,withoutpermissionoftheFederalGovernment.Sourcecreditisrequestedbutnotrequired.SafetyandHealthGuidefortheMeatpackingIndustryU.S.DepartmentofLaborAnnMcLaughlin,SecretaryA.:I..-AU-..I+C.AAm;..;rr+rn+;rrnUCCUpauurlalaaleiya1lunaalilIMUII111II~LIauulIJohnA.Pendergrass,AssistantSecretary1988OSHA3108Contents..................................Introduction3.............................PotentialHazards3....................................KnifeCuts3.........................................Falls4..................................BackInjuries4..............................ToxicSubstances4.....................CumulativeTraumaDisorders4.............................InfectiousDiseases5...........................ProtectiveMeasures5...................................Guardrails-5........................................Floors5wiring......................................5.................EquipmentandMachineGuarding6........................LocalExhaustVentilation6.............................GeneralVentilation6..........................AdministrativeControls6................................WorkPractices6................ProtectiveClothingandEquipment6................................RelatedIssues7..........................TrainingandEducation7...............................First-AidTraining8...........................EmergencyResponse8Um---AP~mmannim*+innQ.........................na~a~uUUII11IIUIIIQQLIWIIw.......................AccesstoMedicalRecords9Recordkeeping................................9EmployerandEmployeeResponsibilities...........9Appendix...................................10References..................................10ConsultationProjectDirectory.................11..........................RelatedPublications11OccupationalSafetyandHealthAdministration's~n............................FiegioriaiOfficesIzIntroductionPotentialHazardsThemeatpackingindustry(StandardIndustrialClassification201I),whichemploysover100,000workers,isconsideredtobeoneofthemosthazardousindustriesintheUnitedStates.AccordingtotheBureau=fLab~rStatistics(BLS),lthisIfidustryhashadthehighestinjuryrateofanyindustryinthecountryforfiveconsecutiveyears(1980-1985),witharatethreetimesthatofothermanufacturingindustries.BLSstudieshavealsoshownthatfor1985,319workerswereinjuredduringthefirstmonthofemploy-mentintheindustry.Ofthoseworkers,29percent,...+L.,I,~;..-,.-..,.L:..~~..--Arlnerrrrr--+rmW~IGGULuyRIIIVGDUIIIICILIIIIIGIya1IUdu~~ILGIILI=-ceivedsprainsandstrains.Inaddition,morethan30percentofallinjuriesoccurredtoworkers25yearsofageoryounger.Youngernewworkersareatthehighestoccupationalriskandsufferasignificantproportionofallinjuries.Workerscanbeseriouslyinjuredbymovinganimalspriortostunning,andbystunninggunsthatmayprematurelyorinadvertentlydischargewhiletheytrytostilltheanimal.Duringthehoistingoperation,itispossiblefora2,000-poundcarcasstofallonworkersandinjurethemiffaultychainsbreakorslipoffthecarcass'hindleg.Workerscansufferfromcripplingarm,hand,andwristinjuries.Forexample,carpaltun-nelsyndrome,causedbyrepetitivemotion,canliterallywearoutthenervesrunningthroughonesectionofthewrist.Workerscanbecutbytheirownknivesandbyotherworkers'knivesduringthebutcheringprocess.Backinjuriescanresultfromloadingandunloadingmeatfromtrucksandfrommovingmeat,meatracks,ormeattreesalongoverheadrails.Workerscanbeseverelyburnedbycleaningsolventsandburnedbyheatsealantmachineswhentheywrapmeat.Itisnotuncommonforworkerstoseverfingersorhandson---L:---bL-4:-------I..l--I,-A-,.+:--A-rrlaC;llllleziillatareIrllpruper~ylu~neu-uuiUIIrlaua-quatelyguarded.Forexample,in1985,BLSstudiesalsoreported1,748casesofinjuriestothefingers,in-cluding76amputations.ManyworkerscanalsoinjureILI..--L..+-III----*----I-I..-1:----..LI----InernselvesoyralllnyonIreacnerouslyslipperyrtuursandcanbeexposedtoextremesofheatandcold.Thispublicationisdesignedtoincreaseemployerandempioyeeawarenessofineseandotnerwor~piacehazardsandtohighlightthewaysinwhichemployersandemployeescanworktogethertoeliminatethem.Employersareencouragedtoreviewandstrengthenoverallsafetyandhealthprecautionstoguardagainstworkplaceaccidents,injuries,andillnesses.Machinerysuchasheadsplitters,h~nesp!it!ers,snout_pullersandjawpullers,aswellasbandsawsandcleavers,posepotentialhazardstoworkersduringthevariousstagesofprocessinganimalcarcasses.Awidevarie!yofotheroccupations!safetyandhea!thhazardsexistsintheindustry(seeAppendix).Thesehazardsareidentifiedanddiscussedinthefollowingparagraphs.KnifeCutsKnivesarethemajorcausesofcutsandabrasionstothehandsandthetorso.Althoughmoderntechnologyhaseiiminatedanumberoinand~nifeoperations,thehandkniferemainsthemostcommonlyusedtoolandcausesthemostfrequentandsevereaccidents.Forex-ample,oneworkerusedaknifetopickupahampriortoboning;theknifeslippedoutofthehamstrikinghimintheeyeandblindinghim.Anotherworkerwasper-manentlydisfiguredwhenhisknifeslippedouto