NIOSH Urges Pork Processing Plant To Address Ergonomics Hazards

In a recently published report (PDF), NIOSH has proposed actions to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and control other hazards affecting workers in harvesting operations at a pork processing plant. Management requested that the agency’s Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) Program assess the plant’s ergonomics—that is, fitting the job to the worker—as well as injuries and illnesses affecting workers’ muscles, tendons, and nerves. NIOSH staff conducted a virtual walkthrough of the plant in May 2021 and visited the facility in July 2021 and August 2022. During these visits, the evaluators observed conditions for the 201 full-time employees working in the harvesting section, who were tasked with preparing the animals for processing in other areas of the plant. At the time of NIOSH’s 2022 visit, the employer planned to run an average of 1,106 hogs per hour on the plant’s harvesting side, resulting in an average of 11,000 hogs processed per day.

Many harvesting workers had hand activity levels and force above guidelines set by ACGIH, the HHE report states. Of the job tasks evaluated by NIOSH, 16 percent had hand activity levels and force at or above ACGIH’s Threshold Limit Value (TLV), above which a worker’s level of hand movement is considered unacceptable. In addition, 45 percent of workers had hand activity levels and force measured above ACGIH’s action limit.

NIOSH also found that between May 2018 and December 2021, the facility’s OSHA logs reported an increasing rate of upper body musculoskeletal disorders. By the end of this period, the facility rate was higher than the overall rate of injuries reported for the U.S. animal slaughtering and processing industry, excluding poultry. Whether this finding means there are more injuries at this facility than at similar facilities, or that its medical program has been improved and become better at detecting injuries and illnesses than the industry standard, “this high and increasing rate of injuries and illnesses shows the need for additional controls,” the report states. NIOSH staff estimated that 39 percent of harvesting-side employees had experienced work-related symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders affecting their necks, backs, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers in the 12 months before their visit.

The report issued recommendations to reduce workers’ risk of musculoskeletal disorders, starting with an evaluation of job tasks to find ways of reducing repetition, force, and awkward postures. NIOSH also encouraged the employer to reduce workers’ need to reach or perform repetitive movements, regularly rotate workers through highly repetitive work tasks, limit the length of time workers spend doing repetitive work, and make other interventions based on ergonomic design principles. Additional recommendations were aimed at improving monitoring for musculoskeletal illnesses and injuries at this facility to determine whether interventions need to be introduced or changed.

The report also includes recommendations for reducing exposures to peracetic acid, a chemical used as a disinfectant at the facility. Although detectable levels of peracetic acid were measured near the spray cabinet where it was applied, “the results do not show the need for further personal exposure monitoring for peracetic acid, acetic acid, or hydrogen peroxide,” the report states. A few more recommendations address other health and safety issues identified during the evaluation, such as the need to remind workers of the importance of using hearing protection.

The report on ergonomic risks and musculoskeletal disorders at a pork processing plant (PDF), as well as similar evaluations, may be accessed using the HHE search page on NIOSH’s website.