More safety regulations needed in poultry plants
US - A study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center found considerable variation in the numbers of injuries reported by workers at different poultry companies and suggested that further regulation of the industry is needed.Researchers found that 119 of 200 poultry workers interviewed reported having one or more job-related illness or injury in the previous month, with musculoskeletal injuries being the most common. One in three workers said they had missed work in the last year because of neck or back pain.
Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist and Centro Latino of Caldwell County interviewed Latino poultry workers in six western counties: Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin. The survey was based on a representative sample of workers in those counties, according to a medical center news release.
The researchers said that, on average, the injury rate from plants exceeded the rate reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In 2003, North Carolina reported that 9.4 percent of its poultry workers were injured or got ill on the job.
Source: The Business Journal
27 September 2005
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