Injury Rates

Thanks to a commitment by the industry and a partnership with OSHA and the United Food and Commercial Workers union to develop the first ever industry specific ergonomic guidelines, lost workday illnesses and injuries - those requiring days away from work to recuperate -  now stand at the lowest level ever recorded, according to data recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) covering 2007 annual safety results.

Meat packing and processing jobs are not without risk. However, the industry has reduced fatalities substantially. Fatal injuries in the meat industry (2.78 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2007) are lower than the average for all private industry categories (3.9 fatalities per 100,000 workers). This rate is also much lower than many other industry groups, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In comparison with other industries, fishers and related workers had a fatality rates of 141.7 fatalities per 100,000 workers, the highest among all industry groups. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers had 87.8 fatalities per 100,000 workers, logging workers had 82.3 fatalities per 100,000 workers and structural iron/steel workers had 66.1 fatalities per 100,000 workers.