 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Stephen Mooser, MPH, Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU), 30 East 29th Street, New York, NY 10016, (212) 684-5300, sbmooser@aol.com
Poultry processing remains one of the more hazardous industries in the United States, with an officially reported injury rate significantly higher than the national average. Over the past decade the poultry workforce has shifted markedly, as immigrants from Mexico and Central America now constitute the majority of workers in southern poultry factories. Language barriers, fear of deportation, and annual workforce turnover rates approaching 100% are among the obstacles to building successful health and safety initiatives. This paper presents the results of the initial two years of a poultry health and safety outreach and training program of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), focused in the states of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The goal of the program is to increase awareness of health and safety hazards particularly among hispanic poultry workers and to help develop on-going health and safety acitvities in poultry facilities. The paper illustrates common poultry plant health and safety hazards and documents how the "culture" of poultry facility operation frequently aggrevates these problems. Lessons learned in outreach to these vulnerable workers are shared, particularly stressing the importance for labor groups to build coalitions with community based organizations.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Immigrants, Occupational Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.