New OSHA Guidelines for Meat Processing Facilities: What You Need to Know

Slaughterhouse Rules

OSHA publishes new inspection guidance for meat processing facilities

On October 15, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released expanded guidance for its regional offices to use when inspecting animal slaughtering and meat processing facilities. The expanded guidance applies to all animal slaughtering and processing establishments — North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 3116. The previous guidance was specific to a subset of this NAICS, poultry slaughtering and processing establishments (NAICS 311615).

According to OSHA, the rate of carpal tunnel syndrome in the meat processing industry is more than seven times the national average. Some specific hazards for workers in these facilities include exposure to high noise levels, dangerous equipment, hazardous chemicals, slippery floors, and numerous biological hazards associated with handling animals and processing meat.

The new guidance mirrors the previous guidance in many respects, and though focusing on many of the same hazards, the new guidance addresses specific hazards that could be the subject of an OSHA inspection. Programmed and unprogrammed inspections at meat processing facilities will include scrutiny of the following:

• Sanitation and Cleanup Operations
• Ergonomics/Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)/Payment for PPE
• Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
• Machine Guarding
• Slips, Trips, and Falls
• Process Safety Management – Ammonia
• Chemical Hazards — Ammonia, Chlorine, Hydrogen Peroxide, Peracetic Acid, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen (gas & liquid)
• Occupational Noise
• Egress and Blocked Exits
• Recordkeeping

Who’s at Risk?

OSHA also reports that sanitation workers — including contractors and temporary workers — are particularly at risk of being exposed to hazards while cleaning energized machinery. This work, according to OSHA, often occurs at night, and sometimes underage workers and undocumented individuals are employed to do it.

The guidance explicitly requests that Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHO) look for possible unlawful wage and hour practices and child labor violations and “initiate referrals and exchange appropriate information relating to complaints, inspections, or investigations and related matters, to support the enforcement activities of the agencies.” There’s even an official Memorandum of Understanding between the Wage and Hour Division and OSHA about working together.

Enhanced Inspection Procedures

The new guidance directs CSHOs to:

• Conduct inspections during off-shift times to ensure that second and third-shift operations, such as sanitation services, are covered. Include contractors and temporary workers who provide onsite sanitation services at an animal slaughtering and processing facility in the inspection
• Request and review the OSHA injury and illness records from the third-party sanitation employer(s).
• During each inspection, look for workplace activities that may impact workers who are most at risk (e.g., temporary workers or those performing newly assigned hazardous tasks, entry-level tasks, sanitation, and cleaning), and interview these workers.
• Review training efforts, emphasizing training effectiveness and worker understandability (i.e., language or comprehension barriers and how they are managed).
• Identify and include employee representatives in the inspection process.

Expect Inspection

OSHA is clearly focusing resources on the animal slaughtering and processing industry, and employers in this industry must be ready for OSHA to come calling during off-hours—whether late in the day or in the early morning. Besides reviewing sanitation processes, safety training, recordkeeping practices, and policies for temporary workers and subcontractors, employers are strongly advised to familiarize themselves with their rights and options.

As I’ve advised my clients in the past, all employers have the Fourth Amendment right to refuse an onsite, walkaround inspection on any basis and require OSHA to get a warrant to conduct its inspection. OSHA’s final “walkaround rule,” effective May 31, 2024, clarifies who may serve as employees’ authorized representative during OSHA’s physical inspection of an employer’s workplace. CSHOs have been advised to follow the Interim Guidance for Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process issued on May 10, 2024, in determining whether employees have an authorized employee representative during inspections.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns — or have received a citation for any reason — don’t hesitate to contact Orr & Reno for assistance.

James F. Laboe

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