Source: Susan Kelly, MEATINGPLACE 9/5/19

The poultry industry and the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have agreed to an alliance to share information, guidance and access to training resources to improve worker safety practices, industry groups announced.

The goals for the alliance include raising awareness of health and safety practices and programs. The initiative formalizes a relationship to work collaboratively. Specifically, the organizations will share injury, illness and hazard exposure data to help identify areas of emphasis for training, outreach and communication activities. 

Loren Sweatt, OSHA deputy assistant secretary of labor, Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council, Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation, and Matt Spencer, director of HR and safety programs for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, signed the agreement Wednesday in Washington, D.C.  

The industry representatives discussed recent safety and health initiatives including ergonomics, medical and training efforts to reduce repetitive injuries, advancements in processing equipment technology, current research, and employee outreach activities.

The efforts have resulted in an 83% reduction in recordable injuries in poultry processing plants since 1994, the groups said in a press release. With the newly formed alliance, the aim is to continue to drive injury rates down and help promote the overall health and safety of employees and team members, they said.

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