Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 5/2/17



A recent report from a labor advocacy group noted that Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride placed among some of the largest U.S. companies that had the most severe work-related injuries out of more than 14,000 companies reporting.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) collected data from 29 states and discovered that Tyson placed fourth behind the U.S. Postal Service, Walmart and United Parcel Service (UPS) in terms of reported severe injuries between January 2015 and September 2016. Pilgrim’s Pride placed in sixth place on the list, which also included Publix, Walt Disney Co., Kroger Co., FedEx and Lowes in the top 10, the OSHA report stated.

The results were distributed by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and noted that Tyson is just one-tenth the size of Walmart’s workforce. Cargill Inc., which also processes poultry and meat, placed 14th on the list in a tie with Pepsi, American Airlines and Packers Sanitation.

The poultry industry collectively reported 180 severe injuries resulting in hospitalizations and amputations, placing the industry in 12th place among all industries studied. The report noted that the data does not include information from major meat and poultry states like Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, which all are monitored by state OSHA agencies.

The National Chicken Council (NCC) released a statement calling the results an example of “cherry-picking of data in an effort to advance NELP’s and their allies’ agenda: the unionization of poultry plants.” The NCC statement also said the incidence of non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses in the poultry sector “remains at an all-time low, according to the 2015 Injury and Illness Report by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

The industry organization said the total recordable poultry processing illness and injury rate for 2015 was 4.3 cases per 100 full-time workers annually, the same rate as in 2014.

Additional information on the NLEP release can be found here.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.