Graves: Meat-packing industry needs improved COVID-19 guidance

Further clarification on best practices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is needed to protect workers as meatpacking plants across the United States are re-opened, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) said on Wednesday.

“It’s imperative that the CDC and OSHA present clear, commonsense guidelines which enable our meat processors to protect the health and safety of their workers, while helping to maintain the availability of our country’s food supply, and the livelihoods of farmers throughout North Missouri,” Rep. Graves said.

Going forward, the goal should be to keep workers safe while applying improved safety regulations that would enable the plants to operate safely at as high of capacity as possible, wrote Rep. Graves and his colleague U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) in a letter sent to CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield and Loren Sweatt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of OSHA.

“When working with meat processing plants, some have expressed uncertainty over properly implementing CDC and OSHA guidance for ‘Meat and Poultry Processing Workers and Employers,’” the lawmakers wrote.

“America has consistently had the world’s safest, most affordable food supply. However, that is in jeopardy as a result of COVID-19,” Rep. Graves added. “Most of our meat processors have either been shuttered or running at a reduced capacity, while they try to discern what the CDC and OSHA expects of them.

“As a result, our producers have nowhere to go with their animals, which threatens to put them out of business, and consumers are seeing increasingly empty store shelves,” he said.

The congressmen requested clarity on several points, including how employers should best consider workers’ individual risk factors while staying within the legal confines of worker protection and non-discrimination laws; how to determine 6 feet of distance between individual workers; and whether suggestions that if there are curtains or barriers placed between individual workers is a correct interpretation of the guidance, among numerous other questions.

“As we continue to work with our plant managers and local leadership, we request these clarifications be written into the guidance to help these leaders ensure they are properly protecting workers while continuing to supply safe and nutritious protein to American consumers,” according to the lawmakers’ letter. “Time is of the essence.”