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Laceration injuries among workers at meat packing plants.

Cai C; Perry MJ; Sorock GS; Hauser R; Spanjer KJ; Mittleman MA; Stentz TL

Am J Ind Med 2005 May; 47(5):403-410

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20157

20054418

Background: Employees in meat packing experience one of the highest occupational laceration injury rates in the US. Method: A retrospective study was conducted using OSHA 200 injury and illness logs and First Reports of Injury from two large US meat packing plants from 1998 to 2000. The total workers observed during the study period ranged between 2,449 and 2,682 per year. Results: Laceration injury incidence rates in Plant 1 were 14.0 injuries per 200,000 person hours (per 100 workers per year) in 1998, 11.5 in 1999, and 8.3 in 2000, whereas in Plant 2 the overall incidence rate was 3.7 in 1998, 4.8 in 1999, and 3.0 in 2000. Laceration injury rates in Plant 2 were close to the expectedOSHArecordable laceration injury rate in 1999 (3.0 per 100 workers per year), but Plant 1 was considerably higher. Plant 1 had a kill support department, and removed animal hides whereas Plant 2 did not. Handheld nonpowered tools were the most common contact objects whereas the slaughter department had the highest numberof injuries. Finger injuries from a handheld non-powered tool were the most frequent. Conclusions: Findings confirm the high rate of injury from laceration in this industry and indicate hazard varies across time into shift, task being performed, and type of tool being used.

Workers; Work environment; Meat packing industry; Employees; Injuries; Humans; Men; Women; OSHA; Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Tools; Hazards; Shift work; Shift workers; Traumatic injuries; Author Keywords: lacerations; meat packing; occupational injury; OSHA logs; shift work; traumatic injury; injury epidemiology

Melissa J. Perry, ScD, MHS, Occupational Health Program, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Bldg. 1-1413, Boston,MA 02115

AJIMD8

20050501

Journal Article

mperry@hsph.harvard.edu

Grant

2005

Grant-Number-T42-CCT-122961

5

0271-3586

American Journal of Industrial Medicine

MA; MD; NE

Harvard School of Public Health