OSHA’s pickin on chicken

WORKING SAFELY BY?STEVE?SAYER

(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)

An acquaintance recently sent me a?post?centering on purported harsh working conditions involving poultry workers at poultry establishment(s).

Dr. David Michaels, (former) Asst. Secretary of Labor Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) authored the blog that appeared on the Department of Labor’s website back on Jul. 21, 2016.

Highlighted below is a portion of Dr. Michaels blog:

“For some workers, a simple trip to the bathroom could result in the loss of a job.?

Poultry-processing workers are sometimes disciplined for taking bathroom breaks while at work because there is no one available to fill in for them if they step away from the production line.

Some workers have reported that they wear diapers and restrict liquid intake in an effort to avoid using the bathroom. No one should have to work under these conditions.

All workers have a right to a safe workplace, and that includes access to readily available sanitary restroom facilities on the job.

Poultry processing is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States, and readily accessible restrooms are only one of many problems that workers in this industry face.”

Needless to say, I was surprised and shocked with the multiple messages that Dr. Michaels conveyed within his blog to the general public.

This type of sweeping and seemingly boundless hyperbole sounds more like it’s coming from someone from PETA or HSUS - not the assistant secretary of OSHA.

Dr. Michaels, what specific evidence do you have to back up your statements?

How many poultry establishments were involved? How many workers were wearing diapers while being refused to visit the lavatory? Have any OSHA citations and fines been cited for this specifically?

Nothing.

Just buckshot words shot straight from the OSHA sheriffs personal keyboards tail-less mouse with zero evidence or references offered within the text of his blog to substantiate his statements.

Back on May 11, 2016,?Meatingplace.com?brought to everyone’s attention the?Oxfam America Report??Titled – “No Relief: Denial of Bathroom Breaks in the Poultry Industry” with identical allegations (among others).

The?Meatingplace story, however, included initial responses from several poultry processors that were identified within the report.?

It would appear that Dr. Michaels believed - hook, line and sinker - that the Oxfam America report was truthful and then preceded to scribble about it several months later on the Department of Labor’s website.

Amazing.

The poultry industry, at times, gets dragged through the mud by a variety of special interest groups via the turbocharged?social media?that bends, twists and sways the truth to their particular liking.

The poultry industry doesn’t need (nor any other industry) the assistant secretary of OSHA getting in on such spin, broadly painting statements that clearly infers to the gullible public that such industry practices are widespread and common – without supplying any references.

I’m not denying that there may have been some isolated incidents of what Dr. Michaels scribbled about.

I don’t know.

I’m not the one implying that such incidents occurred.

However, such abrasive and presumptuous statements without references only stoke the fires of the many anti-meat groups and the like.

As the longest serving assistant secretary in OSHA's history (President Obama appointed Dr. Michaels to his present position after securing Senate confirmation in December 2009), hopefully the November elections will bring some needed changes.

(It did).

9/16/2016 (Revised 11-10-2022)