3.The+Most+Dangerous+Job

Group 3

Dan Snare

Chapter 8:The Most Dangerous Job

Summary: The most dangerous job in America is meatpacking at a slaughterhouse, according to Fast Food Nation. A slaughterhouse is a large, stony, menacing building with many rooms and levels but the kill floor with blood and guts everywhere is the most dangerous of them all. It is here where hundreds of workers are cutting up meat with knives at an extremely fast rate. Each worker makes about 10,000 cuts per 8 hour shift and that speed leads to many injuries. Every year more than one quarter of meatpackers suffer a work-related injury that needs medical attention beyond first aid and there are many more injuries that go unreported. The "IBP" revolution has sped up the process which has led to more injuries. Workers are very close together as they're wielding huge knives so every mistake can be fatal. It is interesting that the slaughterhouses rely so much on human labor rather than mechanical tools, therefore the speed of the production line directly relates to the company profits. To keep up, many workers take amphetamines but these can actually hurt the process because getting high at work is not safe. Many injuries are not reported since supervisors’ bonuses are affected by the injury rate. There is a lack of safety and also a lack of reporting of injuries. One of the worst jobs in America is that of a late-night cleaning crew member of the slaughterhouse. They have to hose down the bloody, meat scrap filled, greasy building with hot chemical filled water. The death rates for these workers are very high. In the 1980s OHSA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) turned to a voluntary compliance policy where OHSA employees got rid of inspections but instead just looked at injury logs that were made by company officials. Deaths and injuries rose while regulations declined as companies chose to cover up injuries and not report them the OHSA. In Colorado, companies have the right to choose the doctor that sees an injured worker, leading to corruption and misdiagnoses made on purpose in order to protect the plant. When Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994 they limited OHSA’s authority, reducing the number of inspections and the money spent on enforcing regulations. “They treat us like animals,” one worker said.

Opposing Viewpoint: Slaughterhouse companies contend that they offer jobs to thousands of workers who would otherwise be unemployed.