Food

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service will allow poultry-processing plants to increase line speeds if they meet certain criteria, even as critics claim the move will expose workers to injuries and was made without public input.

Richmond, VA — The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry has issued a hazard alert warning of the potential dangers of unsafe materials handling and storage in the beverage distribution and retail industry.

Washington — OSHA recently announced an update of its webpage on avian influenza.

Washington — Employers in the marijuana industry should provide safeguards to protect workers from repetitive stress injuries, NIOSH states in a recently released Health Hazard Evaluation Program report.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service has denied a National Chicken Council petition seeking unrestricted line speeds in poultry-processing plants.

Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is among four lawmakers calling for Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to address their concerns over OSHA’s responses to a Government Accountability Office report, issued in November, on the health and safety of meat and poultry industry workers.

San Diego — A U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to remove maximum line speeds in pork-processing plants “will translate into even more illness and injury” among workers, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington — Better outreach, collaboration and information sharing among federal agencies is needed to improve worker safety in the meat and poultry slaughter and processing industries, the Government Accountability Office concluded in a recently released report.

Washington – Poultry workers and officials from 13 nonprofit organizations and unions met with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Oct. 16 to urge the department to reject an industry petition to allow faster and unrestricted line speeds in production plants, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Washington – Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) says lawmakers who cite concerns about worker safety when opposing his call to increase poultry-processing line speeds are willfully ignoring scientific data.