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Investigation Finds Safety Violations at Bladen County, N.C., Pork Plant

Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

Aug. 24--In January, an international human rights organization singled out Smithfield Foods' massive pork processing plant in Bladen County, accusing it of widespread safety problems and worker abuse.

On Tuesday, the N.C. Department of Labor gave its own account of conditions at the 6,000-employee factory. An inspection lasting several weeks this spring resulted in 45 serious violations, nine that were less serious and a fine of $23,514.

The results pleased the state and Smithfield Foods, but concerned others.

"We turned over every rock," said Allen McNeely, head of the Labor Department's Division of Occupational Safety and Health. "I feel confident our folks saw just about everything.

"At huge plants that are thousands of square feet big, we're going to find machine-guarding problems, some electrical problems. I think what we've got here is a very thorough investigation of a plant that is doing a lot of good."

The North Carolina plant is the largest owned by Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, the largest pork processor in the world with $11 billion in sales for the fiscal year that ended May 1.

Lance Compa, the Cornell University professor who researched and wrote the report published by New York-based Human Rights Watch in January, said being large doesn't mean a plant will automatically violate federal and state safety and health standards.

"There are many large plants with better records," Compa said. "I wouldn't be too relaxed when they find such a large number of violations."

Tom Clarke, an organizer in Red Springs with the United Food and Commercial Workers, a union trying to organize workers at the plant, said he frequently hears from Smithfield employees worried about their safety. Two of them filed a complaint last week with the National Labor Relations Board with the help of the union, alleging that they were retaliated against after complaining about dangerous conditions on the disassembly line.

"Workers have been complaining for years about safety," Clarke said.

Among the violations that the state found:

--Partially blocked emergency exits.

--Missing guardrails on the 4-foot platforms where employees stand while cutting meat.

--Workers not wearing safety glasses while welding or using industrial-strength bleach and degreasers.

--An employee performing maintenance on a machine that hadn't been shut down.

--Workers being exposed to unguarded saw blades while cutting meat.

--Employees potentially being exposed to blood and infectious materials while laundering gloves.

Smithfield noted in a statement that none of the violations were considered "willful," and that many were immediately addressed.

"While we may contest some of the citations, our philosophy is to correct safety issues where they are identified," said Larry Johnson, vice president of Smithfield's Tar Heel Division.

The factory, about 100 miles south of Raleigh, slaughters, cuts and packages about 30,000 hogs daily. It has been the focus of union organizing efforts since 1997, and became a symbol for critics of the country's meat-packing industry.

Smithfield Foods has defended its plant, pointing to company records showing a 31 percent decline in employee injuries in recent years. In a letter to Smithfield on Tuesday, Howard Laurie, a Labor Department supervisor, noted a drop in reported ergonomic injuries.

"We commend you on maintaining your workplace in this manner and we appreciate your commitment to protecting the health and safety of your employees," Laurie wrote.

Compa, who is assisting the United Food and Commercial Workers, focused a portion of his report on injuries that workers suffer as they repeat the same movement on the meat-cutting line for hours on end. Competitive pressures have prompted companies in the industry to increase the line speed, causing more repetitive-motion injuries and accidental cuts, he said.

Because there is no specific standard under which to cite companies for ergonomic injuries, such problems often go undetected, Compa said Tuesday.

His report, based on interviews with dozens of workers, described a factory that relies heavily on immigrant labor and that routinely fires or denies medical care to injured workers. Compa also alleged that many workers receive insufficient training, and that the company has used illegal and sometimes violent tactics to keep the union out.

In the Labor Relations Board complaint last week, Angel Santos Muriel alleged that he was fired and Jesus Munoz Marquez that he was indefinitely suspended after the men voiced concern in March about the speed of the line in the plant's loin-boning area.

According to the United Food and Commercial Workers, a number of workers staged an impromptu work stoppage one day, demanding that the meat-cutting line slow down or the company hire more workers.

The labor relations board is investigating the charges.

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SFD,

Source: The News & Observer

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