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Safety and health of meat, poultry and fish processing workers

By Shizue Tomoda

Part 9

Table 4.1.5 gives the number of occupational accidents resulting in temporary and permanent incapacity and the number of workdays lost per 1,000 workers in the meat processing and retail sectors in Italy for 1990-94. The accident rate in meat processing declined steadily, as did the number of workdays lost, except in 1991. In the meat retail sector, too, both the rate and number of workdays lost declined after 1992. When the meat processing and retail sectors are compared, the workers in the former face a higher risk of accidents. This may be due to the fact that, in general, they are in charge of slaughtering and processing larger and heavier carcasses.

Table 4.1.5. Number of occupational accidents resulting in temporary and permanent incapacity and workdays lost due to accidents per 1,000 workers in the meat processing and meat retail sectors in Italy

Year		Meat processing 1				Meat retail 2
		Accidents resulting in temporary and permanent incapacity		Workdays lost due to accidents		Accidents resulting in temporary and permanent incapacity		Workdays lost due to accidents
1990		238		3 571		170		3 082
1991		237		3 929		162		3 139
1992		223		3 552		168		3 612
1993		185		2 883		153		2 681
1994		171		2 681		140		2 132
1 Slaughtering and processing, including poultry. 2 Retail sector including slaughtering and processing. Source: Instituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione contro gli infortuni sul lavoro, Italy.

Accident rates for 1990 by size of establishment in the fish processing, bread and confectionary and drink industries in Japan are compared in table 4.1.6. It shows that accidents among workers in smaller establishments resulted in a greater loss of workdays than those among workers in larger establishments in all sectors. In larger establishments, the rate of accidents among fish processing workers was twice as high as that among bread and confectionary workers and five times that of workers in the drink industry. In smaller establishments, workers in the drink industry had the highest rate of accidents, with fish processing workers closely behind. The table also indicates that while fish processing workers were inclined to have more accidents that required more time to heal, few resulted in permanent disability.

Table 4.1.7 presents rates of occupational accidents and diseases, permanent incapacity and death as well as workdays lost among meat and poultry and fish and shellfish processing workers in Mexico for 1990-94. The frequency rate for accidents and diseases for meat and poultry workers was lower than that of fish and shellfish workers in each year. Accidents and diseases among the former tended to result more often in permanent incapacity. This was also reflected in the number of workdays lost per case, which was greater for the former. The mortality rate also was higher for the former, except in 1991. The accident/disease rate for the former declined from 1990 to 1994, and that for the latter increased.

Accident rates by degree of seriousness among meat, poultry and fish processing workers in Poland for 1988-93 are given in table 4.1.8. It shows that most of the accidents in all these sectors were minor, though there were some fatal ones. The total accident rate in the meat industry, which was the highest among the three sectors in 1988, dropped by 27 per cent by 1993, while that for poultry increased by nearly 40 per cent for the same period. The rate for the fish industry declined by 60 per cent.

Accidents in all these sectors seemed to have become more costly in terms of the number of workdays lost per case. In the meat industry, for example, it increased from 26.7 days per accident in 1988 to 31 days in 1993. In poultry, it rose from 27 to 35.5 days between 1988 and 1990, after which it declined to 24 in 1992 but rose again to 30.3 days by 1993. In the fish industry, it climbed from 27.6 days in 1988 to as high as 42 days in 1992, after which it decreased to 38.3 days in 1993. These figures suggest that although fish processing workers may be injured less frequently than others, they stay out of work longer.

Statistics on Sweden concerning workplace accidents show the slaughtering sector to be the most dangerous industry. During the period 1979-90, for example, the frequency of injuries per 1,000 man-years was 169, followed by 113 in iron casting, 101 in meat preparing, 83 in sheet metal work and so on. The frequency for all industries was 29 for the same period. Despite this notoriety of the slaughtering sector, the rate decreased from 190 for the period 1979-82 to 183 for 1983-86 and finally to 135 for 1989-90,⁵³ or a total 30 per cent decline for 1979-90. Nevertheless, the rate was still far too high compared with other industries and much still needs to be done to improve the record.

Table 4.1.6. Degree of frequency ¹ of occupational accidents in Japan, by industry and size of establishment (1990)

Industry		Establishments with 100 or more workers												Establishments with 30-99 workers
		Total		PPD 2		Temporary disability								Total		PPD		Temporary disability
						Total		8 or more days lost		4-7 days lost		1-3 days lost						Total		8 or more days lost		4-7 days lost		1-3 days lost
Fish processing		4.76		0.14		4.62		3.19		0.42		1.01		7.73		-3		7.73		6.90		0.83		-
Bread and confectionery		2.34		0.18		2.16		1.54		0.19		0.43		5.65		-		5.65		2.75		0.48		2.42
Drinks		0.96		0.02		0.94		0.67		0.14		0.13		8.73		1.37		7.36		4.63		-		2.73
1 Degree of frequency = No. of accidents x 1,000,000/total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year. 2 Partial permanent disability. 3 No cases of accidents were reported. No accidents resulting in death or total permanent disability were reported in these industries for the given year. Source: Rodosho (Ministry of Labour): Rodo Saigai Doko Chosa, Tokyo, 1991.

Table 4.1.7. Frequency rates of occupational accidents and diseases, permanent incapacity, death and workdays lost due to temporary incapacity among meat and poultry and fish and shellfish processing workers in Mexico

Industry		Frequency rate		1990		1991		1992		1993		1994
Meat, poultry		No. of work-related accidents and diseases per 100 workers1		17.31		14.19		15.60		14.69		13.97
		No. of permanent incapacity per 1,000 work-related accidents/diseases		14.58		20.08		18.47		24.27		12.52
		No. of deaths per 10,000 workers		1.33		3.64		1.80		2.59		3.36
		No. of workdays lost due to temporary incapacity per work-related accident/disease		16.96		19.89		18.72		19.50		18.22
Fish, shellfish		No. of work-related accidents and diseases per 100 workers		17.44		18.86		21.29		19.14		18.82
		No. of permanent incapacity per 1,000 work-related accidents/diseases		14.04		20.39		17.69		17.25		12.24
		No. of deaths per 1,000 workers		1.02		5.20		1.11		1.27		1.35
		No. of workdays lost due to temporary incapacity per work-related accident/disease		15.87		18.93		14.63		14.21		17.70
1 "Work-related accidents and diseases" include commuting accidents as well and they are referred to as "occupational risks" in the statistics provided by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). Source: IMSS, COOR.S.T., SUI-55/MT-5, 1994.

Table 4.1.8. Occupational accidents in the meat, poultry and fish processing industries in Poland

Industry 1		Types of accident and workdays lost due to incapacity		1988				1989				1990				1991				1992				1993
				No. of accidents or workdays lost		Rate 2		No. of accidents or workdays lost		Rate		No. of accidents or workdays lost		Rate		No. of accidents or workdays lost		Rate		No. of accidents or workdays lost		Rate		No. of accidents or workdays lost		Rate
Meat		Fatal		4		0.048		1		0.012		7		0.092		7		0.085		4		0.042		5		0.048
		Serious		35		0.4		37		0.5		78		1.0		51		0.6		59		0.6		53		0.5
		Minor		2 751		32.7		2 355		29.0		1 931		25.3		2 410		29.3		2 323		24.5		2 442		23.5
		Total		2 790		33.1		2 393		29.5		2 016		26.4		2 468		30.0		2 386		25.1		2 500		24.0
		Workdays lost		74 552		-		64 096		-		55 493		-		69 544		-		73 577		-		77 127		-
Poultry		Fatal		3		0.135		9		0.317		2		0.104		2		0.128		2		0.142		1		0.068
		Serious		3		0.1		16		0.6		33		1.7		11		0.7		15		1.1		7		0.5
		Minor		484		21.8		583		20.5		291		15.2		427		27.5		376		26.7		438		29.8
		Total		490		22.0		608		21.4		326		17.0		440		28.3		393		27.9		446		30.4
		Workdays lost		13 262		-		18 385		-		11 563		-		12 365		-		9 515		-		13 512		-
Fish		Fatal		7		0.237		3		0.135		-		-		4		0.165		5		0.206		2		0.085
		Serious		22		0.7		5		0.2		18		0.7		8		0.3		10		0.4		8		0.3
		Minor		684		23.1		452		20.5		247		9.5		302		12.4		269		11.1		211		9.0
		Total		713		24.0		460		20.9		265		10.2		314		12.9		284		11.7		221		9.4
		Workdays lost		19 699		-		12 518		-		10 249		-		10 176		-		11 917		-		8 467		-
1 According to Classification of National Economy (KGN). 2 Per 1,000 workers. Data for 1988-89 cover accidents in state-owned and cooperative enterprises. Since 1990 data include accidents in enterprises of all forms of ownership. Source: Central Statistical Office, Warsaw, Poland.

⁵³ Bengt Springfeldt: Effects of Occupational Safety Rules and Measures with Special Regard to Injuries: Advantages of Automatically Working Solutions, Doctoral dissertation, The Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Work Science, Stockholm, Sweden, 1993.

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