Protecting Meat Plant Workers Without Disrupting the Supply Chain During COVID-19

There is also a correlation between how fast a plant’s line speed is and the rate of coronavirus transmission. “In order to hit the line speed of 120 birds per minute in a poultry plant, [plants] have to put workers shoulder to shoulder,” says Jose Oliva, campaigns director at HEAL Food Alliance, a nonprofit organization working to create food and farm systems that are healthy for farmers, consumers, and the economy. “Even if you have a mask on, at that speed, there’s blood and other body fluid flying around, and you’re much more likely to contaminate yourself and others.”

Additionally, because some people who have COVID-19 are asymptomatic or have very mild cases, workers worried about lost wages may have chosen to show up to work even when sick. Some plants have a point system, says Oliva, which means that missing a day of work adds to accumulating infractions that could end in job termination.

Meatpacking plants also hire large groups of workers who often congregate in the same spaces multiple times a day, from where they live to how they commute. “We set a plant down someplace, and we bring in 900 workers. We’ve essentially set up a little cohort of people, and the opportunity for community spread is really amplified in that type of setting,” says Edward Mills, PhD, associate professor of Meat Science at Penn State University in University Park. “From my experience, the guys that work in the plants tend to spend a significant amount of time together in the bars as well, where there is a lot of close contact.”

Industry Response

To date, Tyson Foods has had the most COVID-19 cases by company (10,660, with 35 deaths, according to FERN) even though they formed a coronavirus task force in January 2020. “We were one of the first companies to start taking team member temperatures, and we began efforts to secure a supply of face masks before the CDC recommended using them,” says spokesperson Gary Mickelson. They also initiated comprehensive health screenings, including purchasing 150 infrared walkthrough temperature scanners and adding a new position of chief medical officer.

Tyson now also uses 500 social distancing monitors to ensure social distancing and confirm that PPE is worn properly. Tyson’s plants now include physical barriers between workstations and in break rooms, more break room space, such as in outdoor tents, and staggered start times to avoid large gatherings as team members enter the facilities. “About a third of our U.S. workforce have been tested,” says Mickelson. “Currently, less than 1% of Tyson Foods’ U.S. workforce has active COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, Smithfield, which lost eight workers to COVID-19, says the company has spent $350 million to protect its team members as well as the food supply. This allowed them to expand employee benefits and remove all COVID-related limitations in their health plans; add pay premiums; hire private healthcare providers to supply free, on-site, on-demand COVID-19 testing to all employees; provide PPE and hand sanitizing stations; install mass thermal scanning systems and physical barriers; and slow line speed.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have had two priorities,” says Keira Lombardo, executive vice president of corporate affairs and compliance at Smithfield Foods. “First, keep our people healthy and safe, and second, keep our nation fed. These remain our sole priorities.”

JBS USA, which closed four production facilities due to the outbreaks, all of which are now open again, spent $100 million to enhance safeguards for its workforce and nearly $100 million to reward team members with thank you bonuses. “We also hired 1,000 team members to conduct additional, around-the-clock sanitation and cleaning services and to provide education, training, and enforcement of COVID-19 preventive measures,” says a company spokesperson. To further ensure a safer work environment, JBS is also using ultraviolet germicidal air sanitation and plasma air technology to neutralize potential viruses in plant ventilation and air purification systems.