With poultry giant Tyson, the safety hits just keep coming! Last week, I wrote about Tyson managers actually gambling on worker safety. That is, managers abandoned their workers in the midst of a pandemic and then gambled on how many would get sick. That’s horrible. You can read my article titled When Management Bets Against Worker Safety on this blog.
The day after I published my latest article, I read about more poultry industry mis-conduct that puts worker lives at risk. According to a new article, Tyson managers actually directed language interpreters to misrepresent safety conditions to the company’s hispanic workers. You can read that article titled Tyson Accused of Misleading Interpreters at Virus-Hit Plant at the Claims Journal website.
Really? When Covid strikes its workforce, management abandons the plant floor. Management stops safety meetings. Management leaves the workers to fend for themselves. Then, management gambles on how many will get sick? Coronavirus has run rampant through poultry plants in Alabama and across the United States.
It’s not enough to abandon safety practices. Now, management actually has interpreters mislead workers into thinking the plant was “cleared” by county health officials. Management tells its interpreters to mis-state health and safety issues to Spanish-speaking workers.
If you ever believed management in poultry plants took worker safety seriously, think again. It’s not just Tyson. I wrote earlier this year about Pilgrim’s Pride operations here in Alabama. An OSHA investigation after a death at the company’s Guntersville plant found a lack of fall prevention. The investigation also found the company was mis-using equipment in an unsafe manner. Despite blatant safety issues and a worker death, the fines amounted to basically a slap on the wrist.
We live in uncertain times. Many businesses are grappling with the impacts of COVID-19. Yet, it is unacceptable to wholesale abandon your workers and leave them without supervision, protection or guidance. The working men and women in our Alabama communities deserve better.
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The Blackwell Law Firm handles serious personal injury cases across Alabama. Outside the courtroom, the firm continues to advocate for safer workplaces, safer roadways and safer products. We are happy to answer your injury law questions. Consultations are always free and confidential.
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