11/09/2018
So..... let me break down what this really means to a board certified ergonomist. I have spent hundreds of days, thousands of hours in meat processing facilities. I have also dedicated my professional career to reducing the chance of workplace injury. This article is very pro-worker, anti corporation but had some good points so I wanted to share.
On the harvest floors positions with only one individual, this equals 1 extra bird every 2 seconds. For positions with more than one individual the effect will be less. The article points out the additional burden to cut floor individuals. Most processing plants run two cut floor shifts and most cut floor tasks have multiple individuals so the effects are going to be negligible.
I also want to point out that repetition is a single risk factor and rarely does a single risk factor cause an injury. Most of the hog, chicken and turkey plants that I visit have done a very good job reducing awkward postures, reducing force with knife sharpening skills.
Additionally, the driving force in meat processing plants is yield. The amount of product retrieved from the bird or hog. Every day every plant reviews their yield data and will make adjustments to increase yields. Yield is more important than line speed and facilities will adjust line speed and personnel to increase yield.
So, what does this mean? Facilities will not increase line speed if yield decreases. Their may be a handful of positions that recognize a slightly increased pace however most will not notice any difference other than an additional 280 birds of productivity per day.
That’s Ergo Marks 2 cents worth.
A proposed line speed increase from 140 to 175 birds per minute at chicken-processing plants would reverse the efforts of labor and animal welfare advocates.
