Reducing strains in meat processing

The consultant found that meat cutting, meat wrapping, and meat packaging were high-risk jobs because they had short-cycle repetition, little variety, and production pace determined by machine, not the employee. These factors are known to be related to over-use injuries and job stress.

The consultant recommended work station and tool redesign, improved work methods, and job rotation. Management and representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union organized discussions with the workforce regarding these recommendations. For 2 months, weekly worker brainstorming sessions were held in each department to

• address the appropriateness of the consultant's recommendations for change,
• improve the recommendations and provide additional ones, and
• help determine the best ways to implement the changes.

Results from the sessions were presented and discussed with other workers.

After careful consideration, management and labor agreed to try rotating cutting, wrapping, and packaging jobs among workers. This rotation was designed to reduce exposure to any one repetitive task and to increase task variety and skill development. It also gave all workers the opportunity to perform meat cutting, which was considered a more prestigious position. It is important to note that pay rates were hourly (not piece rate) and were negotiated through collective bargaining for the entire line; that is, all three job classifications were paid at the same hourly rate. Thus rotating jobs on the meat processing line had no effect on wages.

Workers completed a survey of health status and working conditions before the change was implemented and again a year later. The consultant also interviewed workers and supervisors before and after the change.

All workers reported that overall working conditions improved under the job rotation program. Meat wrappers and packagers were most satisfied with the program because it allowed them to perform more challenging tasks. Meat cutters liked the program because it gave them a break from the more physically demanding task of cutting meat, but they disliked having to work in the lower-prestige jobs. Supervisors were satisfied with the change because it allowed greater flexibility in job assignments when key workers were absent and the machine pacing of the majority of the work was left intact. The job rotation program also allowed the workers to better tolerate the demanding work conditions.

Improvement was also measured by a reduction in recordable injuries and illnesses. (Cumulative trauma is an occupational illness under OSHA definitions. Recordable cases require medical treatment beyond first aid or result in restricted work activity or days away from work and are assessed continuously.) Before the intervention, recordable cases averaged 15.7 per 100 full time workers, per year. Two years after the intervention, recordable cases were reduced to 6.8 per 100 full time workers.

The reduction in injuries and illnesses 2 years after the intervention is a good indication of long term effectiveness of the intervention. In this example, once the company began improvement activities, the management went far beyond anything specified in the agreement.

This case study is also important for what was not changed:

• The machine pacing of the majority of the work was left intact.
• High productivity and high workload were maintained.
• The job rotation program effectively enabled the meat processing workers to better tolerate the demanding conditions of cutting because this assignment was time-limited each day.

In this case, management, the union, and workers responded in a proactive and positive fashion, and made improvements that benefited all the workers.

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[Source for Case 2: Smith MJ, Zehel D [1992]. Case study no. 9: a stress reduction intervention programme for meat processors emphasizing job design and work organization (United States). Conditions of Work Digest 11(2): 204-213.]

Acknowledgements