Amputation at Tyson Foods exposes chemical, fall, fire hazards at its Center, Texas plant. OSHA fines Tyson Foods $263K for 15 serious, 2 repeated workplace safety violations

August 16, 2016

Amputation at Tyson Foods exposes chemical, fall, fire hazards at Texas plant
Agency fines company $263K for 15 serious, 2 repeated workplace safety violations

DALLAS - A gruesome employee injury led federal workplace safety inspectors to discover the nation's largest meat and poultry processor endangered workers by exposing them to amputation hazards, high levels of carbon dioxide and peracetic acid without providing personal protective equipment.

Responding to a report of a finger amputation at the Tyson Foods Inc. chicken processing facility in Center, Texas, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors identified two repeated and 15 serious violations. The company faces $263,498 in proposed fines.

The investigation determined the employee suffered an amputation when his finger became stuck in an unguarded conveyor belt as he worked in the debone area and tried to remove chicken parts jammed in the belt.

OSHA inspectors also found more than a dozen serious violations including failing to ensure proper safety guards on moving machine parts, allowing carbon dioxide levels above the permissible exposure limit, failing to provide personal protective equipment and not training employees on hazards associated with peracetic acid. Used as a disinfectant, the acid can cause burns and respiratory illness if not handled safely.

"Tyson Foods must do much more to prevent disfiguring injuries like this one from happening," said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. "As one of the nation's largest food suppliers, it should set an example for workplace safety rather than drawing multiple citations from OSHA for ongoing safety failures."

Inspectors also found employees exposed to slip-and-fall hazards due to a lack of proper drainage, trip-and-fall hazards caused by recessed drains and fire hazards resulting from of improper stored compressed gas cylinders. The inspection falls under OSHA's Regional Emphasis Program for Poultry Processing Facilities.

OSHA cited the company for repeated violations for not making sure employees used appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards. The agency cited Tyson for a similar violation in a 2012 investigation at its Carthage facility. The company also failed to separate compressed gas cylinders of oxygen and acetylene while in storage - a violation for which OSHA cited the company in 2013 at its Albertville, Alabama, facility.

The citations are available here and here.

Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, Tyson is the world's largest meat and poultry processing company. With more than $40 billion in annual sales, the company produces more than 68 million pounds of meat per week. It has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Dallas Area Office at 972-952-1330.

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Poultry Processing

There are many serious safety and health hazards in the poultry processing industry. These hazards include exposure to high noise levels, dangerous equipment, slippery floors, musculoskeletal disorders, and hazardous chemicals (including ammonia that is used as a refrigerant). 

Musculoskeletal disorders are of particular concern and continue to be common among workers in the poultry processing industry. Employees can also be exposed to biological hazards associated with handling live birds or exposures to poultry feces and dusts which can increase their risk for many diseases.

Common elements in an effective injury and illness prevention program include:

• implementing an effective ergonomics program*,
• implementing an effective hearing conservation program,
• implementing design and maintenance of electrical systems and an effective lockout/tagout program to prevent injury from accidental start up of machinery during maintenance activities,
• providing required personal protective equipment,
• guarding dangerous equipment,
• following OSHA's process safety management standard to protect workers from accidental leaks of ammonia,
• incorporating engineering controls, such as improving sanitation and ventilation measures, to protect workers from biological hazards that can cause, salmonella, psittacosis, campylobacter infection and other diseases,
• maintaining walking/working surfaces to prevent slips, trips and falls,
• implementing OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard requirements and ensuring workers are not exposed to unsafe levels of hazardous chemicals,
• following OSHA standards that require that exit doors are not blocked and not locked while employees are in the building. Employees must be able to open an exit route door from the inside at all times without keys, tools or special knowledge.

Employers must also comply with OSHA’s sanitation standard 29 CFR 1910.141, that requires that toilet facilities must be made readily available and that employees are able to use toilet facilities when needed.
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High Prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome among Poultry Workers

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Jessica Ramsey, MS, CPE and Kristin Musolin, DO, MS

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) of the upper extremities among poultry processing employees are well documented (Lipscomb et al. 2008; Cartwright et al. 2012). The combination of highly repetitive tasks, forceful movements and working in cold temperatures can increase risk for MSDs such as carpal tunnel syndrome, a disabling medical condition affecting the hands and wrists. In 2014, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was asked to perform a Health Hazard Evaluation at a poultry processing plant in Maryland.






NIOSH evaluated all employees working in receiving, picking, and evisceration at the plant and randomly selected a sample of employees from the debone direct and thigh line departments to participate in the assessment. Researchers found that 81%* of the jobs evaluated, including all jobs in evisceration, involved levels of hand repetition and force over the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists’ (ACGIH) action limit. 

These conditions put workers at increased risk for carpal tunnel syndrome and other MSDs. Jobs involving repetition and force at or above the action limit should be redesigned or use automation or other engineering (and/or administrative) controls to prevent MSDs.

NIOSH researchers found that 76% of tested employees had abnormal results from a nerve conduction test while 34% had evidence of carpal tunnel syndrome. To meet the case definition of carpal tunnel syndrome, employees had to meet all of the following criteria: 1) pain, numbness, burning, tingling in the hands or wrists, occurring more than three times or lasting 7 days or longer in the past 12 months, 2) marked or shaded the location of their symptoms in the median nerve distribution area on a hand symptom diagram, and 3) had abnormal median nerve conduction in the affected hand or wrist. 

The high prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome at this plant is not surprising given the literature on the topic as well as past NIOSH HHEs in poultry processing showing a link between carpal tunnel syndrome and levels of exposure to hand repetition and force above recommended limits.

Additionally, NIOSH reviewed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) logs for 2010-2013. The plant’s rate of OSHA recordable work-related injuries and illnesses was above the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ poultry processing industry average for 2010 and 2011. Sprain, strain, pain, soreness, inflammation, or repetitive motion entries were the most common OSHA recordable injury at the plant in 2010, 2011, and 2013.

NIOSH recommended that the poultry processing company act to reduce the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome and other MSDs. Key recommendations for employers and employees follow.

What the Employer Can Do

• Implement the 2013 OSHA Guidelines for Poultry Processing and recommendations from poultry industry groups.
• Design job tasks so that levels of hand activity and force are below the action limit of the ACGIH.
• Reduce cone line speeds and use additional cone lines so job tasks are below the action limit of the ACGIH.
• Implement a rotation schedule to reduce stress to specific sets of muscles and tendons.
• Ensure that the knife change-out schedule is strictly followed.
• Provide more breaks during the work shift.
• Implement a standard process to evaluate employee symptoms. Provide appropriate treatment, work restrictions, and medical referrals.

What Employees Can Do

• Report symptoms and injuries promptly to supervisors and onsite medical staff.
• Use only sharp knives for cutting. Keep knives sharp by using mousetraps frequently and changing knives on a regular basis.
• Adjust the standing platforms to the correct height for the task.

Our results underscore the need for ergonomic interventions and improvement of work processes and medical evaluation. Early recognition of, reporting of, and intervention in MSDs can limit injury severity, improve the effectiveness of treatment, minimize the likelihood of a disability or permanent damage, and reduce the rate of workers’ compensation claims.
Jessica Ramsey, MS, CPE Ms. Ramsey is an industrial hygienist and ergonomist in the NIOSH Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch.
Kristin Musolin, DO, MS
Dr. Musolin is a medical officer in the NIOSH Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch