If you work for Tyson foods, one of the US's largest poultry producers, you probably aren't very worried about bird flu. That's because you are too busy worrying about not getting cut to pieces, electrocuted, maimed from a fall or burned to death. As part of a strategy of increased attention to workplaces with higher than usual worker injury rates the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) inspected the Tyson poultry processing plant in Noel, Missouri, and found "serious, willful, and repeat" health and safety violations. The plant was fined almost $350,000 as a result. Naturally Tyson is denying culpability. Naturally. That's probably the only "natural" thing about Tyson poultry products which loaded with antibiotics and hormones, but that's another story.
So what kind of violations are we talking about? Here's a sample:
. . . a lack of exhaust duct grease filters and inspections, unclean, wet floors, unguarded walking and working surfaces above four feet in height. Exit routes were found to be blocked, and ill-lit, with one adjacent to a high-hazard area.
Energy control procedures that should be in place were either non-existent or underdeveloped, while incomplete annual inspections were not understood by employees, who received a lack of training.
Further serious violations included lack of identification tags on slings, broken oxygen gauges, storage of incompatible chemicals, with a lack of training and communication labeling.
The aisles in plant were found to be too narrow for the forklift traffic, while industrial vehicles were not check before use and in any case damaged.
Unguarded conveyer systems, belts and pulleys posed risks to workers, along with exposure to flash burn from welding rays. Live electrical cables were found to be exposed during the investigation also.
The alleged repeat violations included unsafe stacking of materials, unguarded moving parts, and exposed electrical wiring. No distinct alarm was in operation for an ammonia release, while quick drench or eyewash stations were missing in needed areas.
Hazardous chemicals lacked appropriate identification and warning labels, while effective hazard communication training did not meet the required standard. (FoodNavigator-USA News)
Oh, yes. Let's not forget the "willful violation": failing to provide procedures for emergency shutdown and startup following an emergency shutdown of the process system.
These are not -- pardon the expression -- chickenshit technical infractions. They are all serious violations, potentially life threatening violations. Half a million dollars is a hefty fine. But -- please excuse me again -- chickenfeed to a company like Tyson.
Why worry about bird flu if you work for Tyson? Why indeed?
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Well for once I agree in toto with Revere. These guys got rich on someone elses fingers, hands etc.
Processing plants are dangerous to say the least but Tyson was a big Clinton backer, and Laura Tyson was on WJC's staff. They parted ways when Tyson got caught last time.
http://www.iowabar.org/IACOURTOFAPPEALS.nsf/9db187f4b2a6140186256dab005…
The Bush Court upheld the appeal by refusing to hear the case I believe after the Iowa Supremes ruled.
It isnt too smart to call a black man a "boy" in Alabama either. Tyson vs. Ash. Still in secondary appeals. The Bush Court ruled that the lower court didnt meet the challenge required. The fact that living in Alabama and using only the word boy wasnt a racial slur. Even though the managers were all white, but all the blacks were in "supervisory" positions. So the Alabama court ruled against Ash, but the Bush court ruled that the decision of the Alabama Court of Appeals and Supremes had not met the intent of the law. Its still in appeal.
Just about everyone here knows my opinion on illegals and minorities and how they get dogged. Illegals I think should be boxed up and shipped back. Minorities need to get away from being called that. I call the latter Americans and the others for a bus ride back to Mexico. But the history on this company and others is a travesty. 350G's. Scuse my French, but they'll make that much this weekend on our barbeques and at KFC.
The answer for them is simple. BOYCOTT!
They'll get the message soon enough.
If this is their level of concern for human beings, imagine what the birds must be going through.
Aren't there USDA inspectors in these factories every shift? Some of this stuff would appear to impact their safety as well.
So many facets to this story, so little energy to post them all
How about the illegal alien aspect
This dates from 2002 - full article at
http://www.reason.com/news/show/28480.html
"According to an indictment filed last December in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga, Tyson Foods made a regular practice of hiring illegal aliens for several plants, including a fresh chicken processing plant in Shelbyville. Anchondo-Rascon allegedly acted as a recruiter of immigrants for the plant, working with Tyson managers to maintain a flow of employees from Mexico. The plant always needed laborers, and there was a steady supply of immigrants who were ready and willing to take the jobs. Since the indictment against Tyson, about 200 immigrants have lost their jobs at the 1,200-employee Tyson plant in Shelbyville, a town with a population of about 16,000.
The indictment of the world's largest poultry producer on charges that it conspired to import undocumented laborers has brought renewed attention to the immigration problem -- not the problem of religious zealots with bombs in their shoes but the lower-profile one posed by millions of people who come to the United States to do our dirty work. The Bush administration has pushed Congress to extend a program that makes it easier for some of these people to get resident alien ("green") cards, and the president has signaled that he may be open to a broader amnesty for illegal immigrants or an expanded guest-worker program. But the Tyson case, which has received national attention, makes it clear that many people -- Americans and Mexicans, powerful executives and poor immigrants -- feel they can't afford to wait for changes in the law."
Then the chicken aspect. The nice juicy fat chicken breast you eat at KFC is from a chicken 6 to 8 weeks old - who has in that short time reached 5 lbs - breeding not hormones is the main reason I understand. At 8 weeks our chicks are not even 1/2 pound although they grow to full size 4 or 5 lb hens (at 6 mos). We raised a few of the commercial broilers once when someone gave us some chicks after they had been used in a classroom. We truly felt they were frankestein monsters - they could barely walk by the time they were 8 weeks and we in disgust slaughtered them.
Want to see how your pricey organic free range chickens stack up. Well for most part they are the same birds. They are kept penned until 6 weeks at which time a small door to a small pen outside is opened. Do they use it - well since they are going to be slaughtered at 7 or 8 weeks they don't have much time and they can barely walk.
Read the Ominvore's Dilema by Michael Pollan or hear him speak at http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.asp?showID=12176
Local (illegal or legal who knows, I don't care) migrant farm laborers like to get some of our roosters to eat. We having grown up on soft chicken flesh find our roos tastier but tougher. They find the soft chicken grown here to be disgusting and eagerly buy our roos for some real chicken eating.
Well that doesn't exhaust all the thoughts brought up by this story. There is still the poor treatment of the chickens, and the monoculture of chicken stock which makes them more vulnerable to disease. But I will leave it there. Chicken stories do get me going.