Essay
Safe workplaces for meat and poultry processing workers provided, report required, and money appropriated. HF0023
Positives
- Mandatory training programs to educate workers
- The mandatory use of Personal Protective Equipment
- Strict regulations
- Workplace sanitation and improve workers efficiency in the workplace
Negatives
- Working in high noise level environment
- Working with dangerous equipment
- Exposure to dangerous chemicals
- Working on slippery surfaces
My bill is to help the meat processing have a Safe workplace for meat and poultry processing workers provided, report required, and money appropriated. By having a safe work environment for meat processing will help reduce the food waste this will also reduce the impact on the environment when raising livestock. This can help to decrease the water consumption , land use and the gas emissions that are related to meat production.
Improving the safety issues for meat processing workers can also help improve the economy. This can help improve healthcare costs which can get high because of foodborne illnesses that can come from unsanitary meat processing plants. This can also lead to the company’s reputation and the consumer’s confidence in the company’s products, which would lead to the company losing money.
Improving the safety in the meat processing industry can also improve the exports and the market shares with other countries. This can help increase the economy for the meat industry. It could also help build the reputation of the meat industry’s companies and build the confidence of the consumers from other countries.
Without the improvement of safety in the meat processing industry there can be many accidents or even deaths that can occur. One of the concerns is an increase in lung cancer “An increased risk of lung cancer has been reported in meat and poultry processing workers. The cause of this increased risk is not fully understood but may be due to exposure to oncogenic (cancer-related) viruses and/or chemicals involved in processing and packaging” (Johnson and Choi, 2012). Not only lung cancer is a risk but also skin infections, pneumonia, the flu and blood infections can occur. This is why it is important to pass this bill to improve safety in the meat processing industry.
(Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
https://www.osha.gov/meatpacking/hazards-solutions
https://www.oshacademy.com/pages/business-solutions/meat_packing_industry_safety.html