Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 10/27/15


The Labor Dept.’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a three-month regional pilot program designed to help protect poultry workers in eight U.S. states, according to the agency and published reports.

The new Regional Emphasis Program aims to help poultry plant employers help reduce injury and illness rates in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, according to an OSHA news release. Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi ranked first, third and fifth, respectively as the nation’s largest poultry producing states, accounting for 18 of the 51 billion pounds of U.S.-produced chicken, according to 2015 USDA data.

A similar program is expected to launch in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, according to a report from an Oklahoma-based news agency. The first three states accounted for 11 billion pounds of chicken produced annually.

The OSHA emphasis program will feature three months of education and prevention outreach activities to share health and safety information with employers, associations and workers. The agency said it will then begin a targeted enforcement phase that will include on-site inspections and reviews of poultry processing operations, working conditions, recordkeeping, chemical handling and health and safety programs.

The emphasis programs are scheduled to conclude Oct. 25, 2016, unless OSHA decides to extend the effort.

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