Line Speed
The speed of the line on which the meat is cut into pieces is one of the most important components of meatpacking plants that threatens workplace health and safety[1]. The sheer volume and speed of slaughtering operations, such as four hundred head of beef per hour[2], is believed to be the foremost reason of workplace injuries in meatpacking factories.
In a 1999 Human Rights Watch report on meat and poultry plants, interviews showed that the workers often do not even have time to sharpen their knives due to the speed and compactness of the line[3].
There is a common agreement that the speed of line has increased significantly since the advent of the industry on a mass scale. What it is unclear is to what extent this increase is due to automation (for example, in poultry industry the speed of line has increased from 70 heads per hours to 120 heads per hour) [4] and whether it corresponds to an increased burden for workers.
It is difficult to refer to reliable information regarding the kind of application that meat and poultry companies employ as there is no legal regulation that standardizes the speed of line from workers safety perspective. Currently the only assessment regarding the line of speed is done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) but solely in terms of food safety, which does not take into account worker safety. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the organization that is responsible for worker safety, does not have any standards relating to the speed of line. Ironically, USDA`s role in the line speed actually has a negative impact on worker safety as the organization's emphasis on food contamination is compliant with faster line speed.
It is also worthwhile to note that, even the Nebraska Meatpacking Workers’ Bill of Rights, one of the few progressive official state documents, does not address line of speed or work speed as a central problem area in meatpacking factories[5].
Some workers also rightfully draw attention to the issue of number of employees working on a line. In terms of line safety, the speed does not mean much as long as it is not conceptualized with regards to number of employees on that particular line, as fewer workers on a relatively slower line would not possibly decrease the number of accidents
References:
1. On line speed in Meatpacking Industry generally, see Donald D. Stull and Michael J. Broadway, Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry of North America (New York: Wadsworth Publishers, 2003); Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, p. 169 ff.; Gail A. Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse:The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997); Joby Warrick, "They Die Piece by Piece," Washington Post, April 10, 2001, p. A1; Marc Linder, "I Gave My Employer a Chicken that Had No Bone: Joint Firm-State Responsibility for Line-Speed-Related Occupational Injuries," 46 Case Western Reserve Law Review 33 (Fall 1995)
2. Human Rights Watch, "Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Workers' Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants" Section IV
3. Human Rights Watch, "Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Workers' Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants", Appendix G
4. Ibid
