Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among Meat Processing Workers in Nebraska, USA, and Effectiveness of Risk Mitigation Measures.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has severely impacted the meat processing industry in the United States. We sought to detail demographics and outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections among workers in Nebraska meat processing facilities and determine the effects of initiating universal mask policies and installing physical barriers at 13 meat processing facilities. During April 1-July 31, 2020, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 5,002 Nebraska meat processing workers (attack rate 19%). After initiating both universal masking and physical barrier interventions, 8/13 facilities showed a statistically significant reduction in COVID-19 incidence in <10 days. Characteristics and incidence of confirmed cases aligned with many nationwide trends becoming apparent during this pandemic: specifically, high attack rates among meat processing industry workers, disproportionately high risk of adverse outcomes among ethnic and racial minority groups and men, and effectiveness of using multiple prevention and control interventions to reduce disease transmission.

Historical Trend of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Meatpacking and Auto Industries, 1980s-Present.

Occupational Applications This paper provides a historical overview of the rise of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) in the U.S. from the 1980s to the present, with a special focus on the two industries with the highest recorded rates: Meatpacking and Auto Assembly. The activities underlying this account amount to a major occupational health success story (although still incomplete) in the recognition of these disorders and the development of a nation-wide effort for prevention. An obstacle in creating the data presented here was that the system of recordkeeping changed in multiple ways, making it difficult to compare WMSD rates over time. The work summarized here evaluated the effect of these changes and combined temporal segments that were judged to be the most accurate to create an overall trend line. These results can aid in: 1) showing the overall history of the recognition and prevention of WMSDs, 2) understanding the effects of the recordkeeping changes, and 3) allowing international comparisons of the trends.

Surge Response: How the Panhandle Handled One of the State's Biggest COVID-19 Outbreaks.

IN TEXAS, COVID-19 outbreaks have been especially pronounced in three types of facilities: nursing homes, jails or prisons, and meatpacking plants. The Amarillo area has plenty of all three. But it was the meatpacking plants that drew national attention to Amarillo's COVID-19 problems. The city, which straddles Potter and Randall counties, has numerous plants that employ 12,000 to 15,000 people. In early April, Amarillo's two hospitals began filling up with COVID-19 patients who worked at a plant in neighboring Moore County. Two weeks later, workers from a plant in Potter County flooded in.

History of the Landmark U.S. Ergonomics Guidelines for Meatpacking.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS The 1990 publication of the Ergonomics Program Management Guidelines for Meatpacking Plants by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was a milestone in the history of occupational ergonomics and the prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs). This paper provides an overview of the development of these guidelines based on personal experience and perception, with special emphasis of the central role the industry trade association, the American Meat Institute (AMI). Industry-wide efforts were successful in reducing the extremely high rates of WMSDs in the U.S. meatpacking industry. Described here are the specific steps the AMI undertook, which serve as a model for other groups on ways to address shared problems. Insights are also offered on why these OSHA guidelines were accepted by industry and succeeded, while other equivalent standards did not - including to some extent the de facto application of concepts of cognitive ergonomics to government documents. This report addresses specific events in the U.S., but the implications are broader and have potential widespread relevance.

Workers' Health Surveillance in the Meat Processing Industry: Work and Health Indicators Associated with Work Ability.

BACKGROUND: Workers' health surveillance (WHS) programs commonly measure a large number of indicators addressing health habits and health risks. Recently, work ability and functional capacity have been included as important risk measures in WHS. In order to address work ability appropriately, knowledge of associations with work and health measures is necessary. The objective of this study was to evaluate which of the factors measured in a WHS are independently associated with work ability in a group of meat processing workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed in a large meat processing company in The Netherlands. Data were collected during a WHS between February 2012 and March 2014. Personal characteristics, health habits and health-risk indicators, functional capacity, and work-related factors were measured. Work ability was measured with the Work Ability Index and was used as dependent variable. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted, a receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. RESULTS: Data sets from 230 employees were used for analyses. The average age was 53 years and the average work ability index score was 39.3. In the final multivariable model age (OR 0.94), systolic blood pressure (OR 1.03), need for recovery (OR 0.56), and overhead work capacity (OR 3.95) contributed significantly. The AUC for this model was 0.81 (95% CI 0.75-0.86). CONCLUSION: Findings from the current study indicate that multifactorial outcomes (age, systolic blood pressure, need for recovery, and overhead work capacity) from a WHS were independently associated with work ability. These factors can be used to assess employees at risk for low work ability and might provide directions for interventions.

Supervisors in ergonomic change of meat cutting work.

Being a supervisor is an important and lonely occupation. The aim of this study was to identify barriers and opportunities in working conditions for supervisors, being facilitators and implementers of change for meat cutters. Nine supervisors of meat cutters in one large company were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews covered their roles as supervisors, performance of the change process and their own working conditions. Notes were taken and structured in themes. Similarities, differences, plus and minus were identified. There was a nuanced view on the change processes and their effects. The change processes and the decisions were anchored in a democratic process with groups of employees and the union. All were clear on what demands the company had on them. They were secure in a functioning network of peers and their immediate superior. On their own education, most were as a whole satisfied, but in need of more training and talked of lifelong learning. They considered their work demanding and lonely, with a need both to be manager and leader. A shared leadership could mean doing a better job. There is a need for education and training as a manager and leader as well as the opportunity to discuss with peers.

Factors influencing workers to follow food safety management systems in meat plants in Ontario, Canada.

Small and medium sized food businesses have been slow to adopt food safety management systems (FSMSs) such as good manufacturing practices and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). This study identifies factors influencing workers in their implementation of food safety practices in small and medium meat processing establishments in Ontario, Canada. A qualitative approach was used to explore in-plant factors that influence the implementation of FSMSs. Thirteen in-depth interviews in five meat plants and two focus group interviews were conducted. These generated 219 pages of verbatim transcripts which were analysed using NVivo 7 software. Main themes identified in the data related to production systems, organisational characteristics and employee characteristics. A socio-psychological model based on the theory of planned behaviour is proposed to describe how these themes and underlying sub-themes relate to FSMS implementation. Addressing the various factors that influence production workers is expected to enhance FSMS implementation and increase food safety.

Beef and pork packing industries.

A remarkable transformation of the meatpacking industry occurred in the last 25 years. That transformation consolidated the industry into one that could deliver large volumes of meat at low costs. Slaughter plants grew much larger and realized economies of scale from their size, and operations within plants were rationalized to emphasize the delivery of a small set of consistent major products (boxed beef, cut-up pork, and by-products) to retailers, wholesalers, and other processors. Similar developments occurred in livestock feeding whereby the industry realized significant cost reductions by consolidating production in very large cattle feedlots and hog farms. Gains from scale have largely been met (absent the development of new technologies that are not yet on the horizon); therefore, we are unlikely to see similar shifts in plant sizes in the next 25 years. The major forces affecting meatpacking and livestock feeding in the near future are more likely to revolve around tighter coordination among livestock production, meatpacking, wholesaling, and retailing. Although much of the recent response to food safety concerns took the form of investments in equipment, testing, and training within meatpacking plants, packers and retailers are likely to focus more on assurance of livestock production quality and methods in the future. Such assurance can be met through vertical integration or through a greater reliance on tightly drawn contracts; producers who attempt to provide the assurance while still selling through cash markets will need to develop paper trails of testing and quality assurance that will move through the marketing chain with livestock. Similarly, because of likely increased future demand for meats of assured consumer qualities, such as organically grown products or branded meat products with very specific traits, producers will likely need to provide similar indicators of assurance throughout the marketing chain. Finally, the funding offered through federal environmental assistance programs such as the USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program along with related regulations governing waste management will likely lead to greater control over livestock production practices by investors, financiers, integrators, and packers through contractual design. Shifts toward tighter vertical coordination will force continuing changes in traditional ways of doing business in livestock production and in meatpacking. In turn, public policy discussions and corporate strategies in meatpacking are likely to focus continuing attention on the particulars of contract design: how to meet consumers', retailers', and regulators' requirements for quality assurance while ensuring efficient low-cost production without retarding competition in the industry.

Improving meat inspection and control in resource-poor communities: the Nepal example.

Meat is an important source of protein and a valuable commodity in resource-poor communities. In many developing countries, lack of appropriate slaughtering facilities and unsatisfactory slaughtering techniques are causing unnecessary losses of meat as well as invaluable by-products from animal carcasses. Slaughtering places are frequently contaminated and may not be protected against dogs, rodents and insects. Meat products coming from such conditions are often deteriorated due to bacterial infection or contaminated, which may cause food poisoning or diseases in consumers. In many developing countries, regulations concerning meat inspection and/or control are inadequate or non-existent allowing consumers to be exposed to pathogens including zoonotic parasites. In Nepal, buffaloes contribute about 64% of the meat consumed, followed by goat meat (20%), pork (7%), poultry (6%) and mutton (2%). Goat and poultry meat is acceptable to all castes of people while buffalo meat is consumed mainly by the Newar ethnic group. Previously, pork was consumed only by people belonging to low castes, however, in recent years, the consumption of pork has increased in higher castes as the caste system has become more relaxed. Until recently, there were no official meat inspection regulations in the country, however, in 1999, the national government legislated an as-yet-to-be implemented Animal Slaughtering and Meat Inspection Act which mandates slaughterhouse construction and meat inspection and control. Due to the lack of implementation of the Meat Inspection Act and resultant absence of meat inspection, meat from sick or parasite-infected animals is serving as a source of infection to humans as well as other animals. In addition, meat quality is adversely affected by careless handling conditions in the slaughtering places as well as in the meat markets or shops. For improvement in animal slaughtering and meat inspection in both rural and urban areas of Nepal, several strategies are to be recommended. Sustainable capacity building should be introduced including training of veterinarians, meat inspectors and butchers as well as building of slaughter facilities. Government policies on slaughter procedures including ante-mortem examination, meat inspection and stamping of meat should be implemented. Programmes should be instituted with strong focus on prevention and control of meat-borne diseases to reduce infection risk of consumers and meat handlers and to avoid contamination of the environment. Lastly, emphasis should be put on improving the animal husbandry system in Nepal. These same actions can be undertaken in other developing countries to assist with improving meat inspection and control, thus helping with prevention and control of cysticercosis as well as other important meat-borne diseases.

Microbial evaluation of some heat treated turkey products at different processing stages.

Random samples at the three processing stages of turkey keshta, turkey rosto, turkey luncheon and turkey frankfurter (20 samples for each stage were collected). For luncheon and frankfurter, 20 samples of each of thighs and breast represents the 1 st stage of processing were also taken. These samples were obtained from some meat processing plants at Alexandria province to make a total of 280 samples. The samples were examined microbiologically and the results revealed that, the total aerobic bacterial count in the examined Keshta and rosto shows their highest count in the 1st stage and gradually decreased in the 2nd and 3rd stages. On the other hand, the total aerobic bacterial count in luncheon and frankfurter samples slightly increased in the 2nd stage and then decreased in the 3rd stage. The Coliform count also shows its highest count in the 1st stage and decreased in the 2nd stage and could not be detected from the 3rd stage of keshta and rosto samples, while it increased slightly in 2nd stage and could not be detected in the 3rd stage for luncheon and frankfurter samples. E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus were higher in the 1st stage than in the 2nd stage of processing of the examined keshta and rosto samples while they were higher in the 2nd stage than in the 1st one in luncheon and frankfurter samples but could not be detected from the 3rd stage in all products. Both Clostridium perfningens and Salmonella could not be detected in the examined turkey products at the different processing stages. The total mould and yeast counts in the examined products showed highest count in the 1st stage and decreased in the 2nd stage and could not be detected in keshta and rosto in 3rd stage while in frankfurter samples the counts in the 1st and 2nd stages were nearly the same and decreased in the 3rd stage but in luncheon samples the count was slightly increased in the 2nd stage and not detected in the 3rd stage. The public health significance of microorganisms as well as the suggested hygienic measures in order to improve the quality of the examined turkey products were discussed.

A policy for a unified meat service.

Unification of meat hygiene control in Britain would lead to an improved service in terms of hygiene and welfare and would ensure continuity from the Minister through to the abattoir meat hygiene team. This in turn would increase consumer confidence in British meat both at home and abroad, and would enable compliance with EC meat hygiene requirements for harmonisation beyond 1992. The level of veterinary supervision and control required throughout the meat plant process has not yet been fully determined by the EC. However, the BVA envisages a team approach headed by a veterinarian with the level of direct veterinary involvement tapering from farm to table. BVA envisages an agency operating along the lines of the current Veterinary Medicines Directorate, with a similar identity but relating to meat hygiene and the welfare of animals at slaughter. Such a unified system could operate more efficiently and more economically than smaller separate organisations. Such a system would ensure even application of standards, avoid duplication of activities, and save money by efficient use of staff and resources. The structure would also allow for better salaries and career prospects than smaller local authority units can provide. This would lead to recruitment and commitment of more highly qualified staff. The purpose of the reorganisation would be to establish a meat quality control service which would ensure that meat and meat products supplied to retail outlets are hygienically produced to standards set down by the EC. Such a service would replace the variable standards of local authority departments and enable MAFF to discharge its EC responsibility as the 'competent authority'.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)