{"id":2481,"date":"2017-12-12T08:12:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T13:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=2481"},"modified":"2017-12-12T10:11:52","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T15:11:52","slug":"osha-rejects-gao-poultry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2017\/12\/12\/osha-rejects-gao-poultry\/","title":{"rendered":"OSHA Rejects GAO Poultry Recommendations: Sees No Problem With Workers’ Restroom Access"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Earl Dotter. www.earldotter.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a surprising and disappointing apparent rollback of OSHA’s enforcement policy related to poultry inspections, Acting Assistant Secretary Loren Sweatt has rejected recommendations from the Government Accountability Office<\/a>\u00a0(GAO) designed to address findings that poultry workers are intimidated about reporting health and safety problems to OSHA, particularly about their inability to get bathroom breaks. The GAO recommended in a report released last week that OSHA “consider off-site interviews or exploring other options to obtain information anonymously,” and that OSHA inspectors make a greater effort to ask poultry workers about the extent to which bathroom access is a problem.<\/p>\n

The GAO report is a follow-up to its\u00a0May 2016<\/a> study\u00a0that found meat and poultry workers have the highest injury rates of any industry, and that even those numbers are underreported.\u00a0 The current report notes that the meat and poultry industry had the 8th highest number of recent severe injury reports of all industries, although the industry’s self-reported injury and illness statistics declined from 2004 through 2015. Severe injury reports result from a recent OSHA requirement that employers report to OSHA all hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye (in addition to fatalities.)<\/p>\n

GAO also observed that\u00a0while OSHA had increased its annual inspections of the meat and poultry industry from 177 in 2005 to 244 in 2016, it’s still a tiny proportion of the 5,282 meat and poultry plants in the United States that employ an estimated 481,000 workers.<\/p>\n

The report was conducted at the request of Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Robert Casey (D-PA), and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA).\u00a0 In addition interviewing OSHA and USDA staff, the GAO conducted group and individual interviews with meat and poultry workers in six locations in five states: Arkansas, Delaware, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Virginia.<\/p>\n

The report comes in the midst of a highly controversial industry effort to increase the line speed<\/a> in poultry processing plants, a change that would increase musculoskeletal injuries suffered by poultry workers.<\/p>\n

Intimidation<\/h2>\n

The GAO found that although the number of OSHA inspections had increased over the past ten years, OSHA “faces challenges identifying and addressing worker safety concerns because workers may be reluctant to contact OSHA for fear of employer retaliation.” Because OSHA interviews workers in the workplace, and those interviews are conducted in private, the supervisor still\u00a0knows the identities of interviewed workers. Making the problem worse, according to GAO, “some meat and poultry workers may be less likely to report or seek treatment for injuries and illnesses because of their vulnerable status as\u00a0undocumented or foreign-born workers and because of their economic vulnerability.”<\/p>\n

Interviews with workers revealed widespread complaints about supervisors discouraging workers from using the restroom<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aside from workers being reluctant to report serious safety and health conditions, the problem most overlooked may be their lack of bathroom access. Interviews with workers revealed widespread complaints about supervisors discouraging workers from using the restroom. OSHA guidance<\/a> issued in 1998\u00a0states that denial or delay of bathroom access can result in various serious health effects, such as urinary tract infections, constipation, abdominal pain, and hemorrhoids, and workers\u00a0interviewed by the GAO also reported that they had\u00a0suffered health effects like kidney problems from delayed or denied bathroom breaks. Under OSHA’ sanitation standard<\/a> (CFR 1910.141), employers are required\u00a0to make toilet facilities available so that employees can use them when they need to do so.<\/p>\n

According to GAO:<\/p>\n

Workers we interviewed in all five states said their requests to use the bathroom are often delayed or denied, and workers in two states said they fear punishment if they ask to use the bathroom too frequently or complain about lack of bathroom access to their supervisors or to OSHA.\u00a0One industry representative told us they believe some supervisors in meat and poultry plants deny bathroom access in order to maximize production output.<\/p>\n

The problem with enforcing the right of a worker to go to the bathroom, according to the GAO,\u00a0 is that if workers fear dismissal or other punishment for talking to OSHA about bathroom breaks, OSHA inspectors may not become aware of the problem. Furthermore,\u00a0OSHA inspectors do not always ask specifically about bathroom access, and workers who experience bathroom access problems may not volunteer this information either because they’re afraid or because they\u00a0may not realize that such information would be of interest to OSHA.<\/p>\n

Common Sense Recommendations:\u00a0 Rejected<\/h2>\n

In order to address the intimidation issue,\u00a0learn more details about hazards, injuries, and illnesses and gather more information about bathroom break problems, the GAO made two recommendations to OSHA: First, that OSHA should “take additional steps to encourage workers to disclose sensitive concerns during OSHA inspections of meat and poultry plants; for example, by considering additional off-site interviews or exploring other options to obtain information anonymously.”<\/p>\n

Second, in order to determine whether, and to what extent bathroom access is a problem, OSHA should simply ask workers during meat and poultry plant inspections about whether bathroom access is a problem.<\/p>\n

But despite the GAO’s findings, OSHA leadership doesn’t think there is a problem that has to be dealt with, and anyway, it would be too much trouble. A letter from Deputy Assistant Secretary Loren Sweatt accompanying the report states that:<\/p>\n

GAO’s recommendation to conduct additional offsite interviews, however, is challenging in terms of witness cooperation, resources and CSHO safety. Moreover each inspection requires a flexible approach to address unique workplace hazards.\u00a0 OSHA cannot commit to asking about bathroom access during each inspection at a meat or poultry processing facility.<\/p>\n

Nothing in these GAO recommendations is particularly new or novel. OSHA’s Field Operations Manual, which sets forth the procedures under which OSHA conducts inspections and enforcement, emphasizes the importance of\u00a0\u201ca free and open exchange of information between OSHA inspectors and employees” and allows inspectors to conduct interviews off site when they feel that off-site interviews would be more effective.\u00a0 The problem is that if the workplace doesn’t have a union, or worker advocates that are helping the workers, it can be difficult to find an acceptable time and venue.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, an OSHA poultry directive<\/a>, issued in 2015 and currently under legal challenge, authorizes inspectors to expand inspections beyond\u00a0other hazards that may be the subject of the inspection — including musculoskeletal injuries and bathroom access —\u00a0 and some regional OSHA poultry emphasis programs require inspectors to inquire about bathroom access.<\/p>\n

In rejecting these GAO recommendations, OSHA may be signalling a reversal in long-standing OSHA enforcement policy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus, in rejecting these GAO recommendations, OSHA may be signalling a reversal in long-standing OSHA enforcement policy. Deborah Berkowitz of the National Employment Law Project and a former OSHA official in the Obama administration, was quoted in Inside OSHA<\/em> saying\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe are stunned that OSHA’s response to the glaring findings in this report is to announce a rollback of longstanding enforcement policies, thereby ensuring that the poultry industry will have an easier time hiding serious hazards. The inevitable result will be even more injuries to this already vulnerable worker population. That is simply unacceptable.”<\/p>\n

See No Evil, Hear No Evil…<\/h2>\n

According to GAO, “OSHA officials said they did not believe lack of bathroom access was a widespread problem in the meat and poultry industry” and offered a number of creative explanations:<\/p>\n