November 19, 2007
US poultry groups workplace safety pact with government
Under terms of an agreement signed Thursday (November 15), the chicken and turkey industries will work together with the US Labour Department's Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) to implement a new alliance on worker safety, especially concerning machinery hazards, the National Chicken Council (NCC) and National Turkey Federation (NTF) jointly announced.
"The poultry industry already has an excellent record in worker safety, and we are pleased to work with OSHA ¡ to further improve our performance," said NCC President George Watts.
Under the agreement, the industries will develop training and education programmes on equipment safety in English and other languages, develop and communicate information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazard, and convene a dialogue on equipment safety issues to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace.
The agreement will remain in effect for two years.
According to data recently released by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, injuries occurred in the poultry processing industry at a rate of 5.3 per 100 full-time workers during 2006, a rate that is slightly less than the rate of 5.5 found in manufacturing as a whole.
The agreement was signed by NCC director president George Watts and NTF Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Michael Rybolt together with Edwin G. Foulke Jr., OSHA assistant secretary, and Joyce Carroll, Nebraska Turkey Growers Cooperative, who will chair the industries' Joint Safety and Health Committee next year.
