The current volley of documents and letters, concerning line speed and worker safety, is telling. It shows us volumes about the push for the HACCP Based Models Project (HIMP) into law. It also shows the urgency of ramming HIMP into place on a timeline that does not have room for dissent nor discussion. In the…
NIOSH Director Says FSIS Administrator Misinterpreted Line-Speed Study
John Howard, director of the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is concerned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has misinterpreted the findings of a recent study evaluating worker safety at poultry-processing plants. At the request of FSIS, NIOSH evaluated the effects of waivers of line-speed restrictions…
NIOSH Study: Line Speed Not an Issue in Poultry Inspection Overhaul
Extended full-time work in the poultry industry does come with the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome and other musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, but line speed does not appear to contribute all that much to the problem, according to a report from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The new report about the…
Meeting Our Mission – A Safer Food Supply
My passion for public health stems from my career as an infectious disease doctor, watching families cope with the heartbreak caused by preventable diseases, including foodborne illness. I know what it feels like to explain to a husband in shock that the reason his wife is on life support is because of something she ate…