Protecting poultry workers

According a survey of 200 Hispanic poultry workers in North Carolina, almost half had pain in their hands or arms during the previous month and 25 percent reported other occupational illnesses or injuries over the past year.

The survey also shows that workers’ jobs require frequent awkward postures and repetitive movements; they have little control over their work and little variety in their tasks.

The solution, according to the Center for Latino Health Research at Wake Forest University, which conducted the survey, can be founded in policy changes in the poultry processing plants, including:

* advocacy groups should work with the plants to develop a culture of safety in the workplace
* companies should create safety committees that include workers to give them more control over their environment
* companies should implement a job-rotation program to increase job variety and reduce the incidence of injuries

“These policy changes can help ensure that poultry processing jobs are organized in a way that protects worker health in this vulnerable population,” says Joseph Grzywacz, an assistant professor at the Wake Forest medical school and the author of the study. The changes would help over 235,000 U.S. poultry workers, mostly in the South, 42 percent Hispanic.