Worker Safety at Meat and Poultry Plants
(Excerpted from GAO-16-337)
Injuries in the meat and poultry industry have declined over the years, but the rate is still higher than in other U.S. industries.(Excerpted from GAO-16-337)
Limited data The Department of Labor is responsible for gathering data on all worker injury and illness rates, as well as ensuring safe and healthy working conditions. However, Labor may not have all the data. Workers may underreport injuries and illnesses because they are afraid of losing their jobs. And employers may underreport because they are worried about having to pay the associated costs. Also, Labor only has detailed data for injuries and illnesses that cause a worker to take days off of work. For example, Labor doesn’t count injuries that result in restricted work—meaning temporary reassignment, working fewer hours, or not being able to perform all duties—or transfers to a different job at the same plant. Such limits raise questions about whether the federal government is doing all it can to collect the data it needs to support worker protection and workplace safety. We recommended that Labor improve its data collection in the meat and poultry industry—to learn more, check out the full report.- Questions on the content of this post? Contact Steve Morris at morriss@gao.gov or Cindy Brown Barnes at brownbarnesc@gao.gov.
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