Safety essentials for the poultry industry

Scope

The Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) is legislation requiring the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to inspect all domesticated birds being slaughtered and processed into products intended for human consumption. Enacted in 1957, the PPIA aims to prevent the mishandling, misbranding, and adulteration of any food products to ensure sanitary poultry processing procedures. The Food Safety Inspection Service, or the FSIS, protects public health by maximizing compliance with laws and regulations governing the production of poultry, eggs, and other poultry products. As an agency of the USDA, the FSIS verifies through inspections that establishments meet regulatory requirements and may take enforcement action when necessary to ensure food safety compliance. Continuous inspections for poultry processing may be federal inspection or state inspection. There are currently twenty-five states with their own poultry inspection programs.

Where the FSIS protects the food, OSHA protects the workers. The most common hazards encountered during poultry processing operations include:

• Ergonomic hazards and musculoskeletal disorders
• Unguarded machinery and other dangerous equipment (such as conveyors and cutters)
• Excessive noise
• Exposure to hazardous materials or chemicals (such as ammonia)
• Exposure to sanitation or biological hazards (such as salmonella or poultry excrement)
• Storage and stacking of cages and other materials
• Hazardous energy sources
• Inadequate ventilation
• Slippery walking and working surfaces
• Temperature extremes

Employers must perform hazard assessments and implement engineering, administrative, and other controls (such as personal protective equipment, or PPE) to mitigate risks and protect employees.

While federal OSHA does not have a comprehensive standard for poultry safety, the agency offers some worker protections as listed in the Regulatory citations list below. Note also that state-plan states may have regulations specific to poultry safety, so check your state regulations.

Regulatory citations

• 29 CFR 1904 — Recording and reporting occupational injuries and illnesses
• 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I — Personal protective equipment (PPE)
• 29 CFR 1910 Subpart O — Machinery and machine guarding
• 29 CFR 1910.1000 — Air contaminants
• 29 CFR 1910.1020 — Access to employee exposure and medical records
• 29 CFR 1910.1200 — Hazard communication
• 29 CFR 1910.1450 — Occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in laboratories
• 29 USC 654 — General duty clause of the OSH Act

Key definitions

• Administrative controls: Management-dictated work practices and policies to reduce or prevent exposures to ergonomic risk factors. Administrative control strategies can include changes in job rules and procedures, such as scheduling more rest breaks, rotating employees through jobs that are physically tiring, and training employees to recognize ergonomic risk factors.
• Domesticated birds: Defined by the FSIS as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, and ratites.
• Continuous inspection: A poultry process inspection whereby each bird being processed is inspected during and after slaughter.
• Engineering controls: Physical changes to the workplace such as workplace layout design, selection and use of tools, and adjusted work methods intended to reduce or eliminate worker exposure to risks.
• Exposure: Subjecting a worker to a hazardous drug by any route of entry, such as inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, or absorption. Exposure includes potential (e.g., accidental or possible) exposure.
• Hazardous: Posing a health hazard, a physical hazard, or harm to people or the environment.

Summary of requirements

• Conduct hazard assessments to identify potential hazard exposures. These include physical, chemical, and environmental hazards such as ergonomics, temperature extremes, and dangerous processes and equipment.
• Implement sound maintenance practices that include safety inspections of equipment and strict lockout/tagout procedures.
• Develop and implement a safety and health plan that includes procedures for poultry and hazardous material handling, emergency response/fire plans, PPE, storage, disposal, training, and recordkeeping.
• Establish and implement control measures. This includes engineering and administrative controls, as well as selection of appropriate PPE to protect workers. Ensure machines are properly guarded or locked/tagged out before work begins. PPE may include respiratory protection, hearing protection, eye and face protection, gloves, gowns, head and facial hair covers, and safety shoes.
• Verify sanitary conditions are maintained. This includes for food handling, walking-working surfaces, and restroom, break, and lunch facilities.
• Ensure hazardous materials are properly labeled and that safety data sheets (SDSs) are readily accessible for workers.
• Train workers on hazard exposure identification, required protective measures, and proper handling of hazardous materials and equipment.
• Encourage early reporting of repetitive motion or other injuries to management. These may include hand pain or numbness, stiff fingers, swelling in the extremities, and back, shoulder, or knee pain.
• Investigate any worker incidents or near misses to find root causes and implement remediations to prevent future occurrence.