Meatpacking Line Speed Trial Program Hinges on Worker Safety

With safety protocols playing a critical role in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest attempt to increase pork production line speeds, with that agency, OSHA and the United Food and Commercial Workers union all trying to determine how best to accelerate production while preventing worker injuries.

The collaboration comes in the wake of a March 2021 decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota that overturned a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service rule for pork processing released by the Trump administration in October 2019 that had eliminated line speed limits. The rule didn’t apply to poultry ...