In 2016 and 2017, The General Accountability Office (GAO) reported that meat and poultry workers faced multiple occupational hazards. OSHA is responsible for ensuring worker safety and health, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for ensuring the safety of meat and poultry products, and employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces.
This report examines:
- meat and poultry companies’ response to the pandemic and how the pandemic affected these workers;
- OSHA’s enforcement actions and associated challenges; and
- OSHA and FSIS collaboration on worker safety.
GAO surveyed companies, analyzed OSHA inspection data from February 2018 through June 2022—the most recent available at the time; reviewed federal laws and regulations, and spoke to workers from nine states with large meat and poultry processing operations. GAO also compared OSHA and FSIS actions to leading practices for interagency collaboration and interviewed federal officials.
GAO recommends that OSHA assess the actions needed—such as an industry standard—to protect meat and poultry workers; and that OSHA and FSIS follow leading collaboration practices. OSHA stated it would respond to the recommendations after the report was issued. FSIS agreed with the recommendation to collaborate.
CLICK HERE for the full report and recommendations