FACTS
- Workers in food manufacturing are more likely to be fatally injured and experience nonfatal injuries and illnesses than workers in private industry as a whole.
- Food manufacturing workers are also much more likely to suffer an injury requiring job transfer or restriction than one that requires days away from work.
- Food manufacturing was one of the largest industries in the manufacturing sector. Workers in this industry process, package, and transport livestock and agricultural products, transforming them into the food products that are seen in households, grocery stores, and restaurants.
- Although more than 50 % of workers in this industry are employed in production occupations, they operate in diverse environments that present a multitude of occupational safety and health risks.
- Workers in food manufacturing are more likely to be fatally injured and experience nonfatal injuries and illnesses than those in private industry as a whole. In addition, food manufacturing workers are much more likely to suffer a nonfatal injury or illness requiring job transfer or restriction than one resulting in days away from work to recuperate.
STATS
- Food manufacturing industry reported 93,200 total recordable injury and illness cases–at a rate of 6.2 cases per 100 full-time workers. This was higher than the manufacturing sector rate of 5.0 cases and 59 % higher than the overall private industry rate of 3.9
- Food manufacturing had 39,200 injury and illness cases requiring job transfer or restriction, with an incidence rate of 2.6 cases per 100 workers while the rate for total private industry was 0.9 cases per 100 workers
- The food manufacturing industry accounted for 2 % of total cases with days away from work in all of private industry. The incidence rate for cases involving days away from work in the food manufacturing industry was 1.4 cases per 100 full-time workers. This rate is about 27 percent higher than the rate for all private industry (1.1 cases per 100 full-time workers)
- Food manufacturing accounted for 12 % of all MSDs in the manufacturing industry and had a higher incidence rate than the manufacturing sector as a whole, with 40.6 cases per 10,000 workers. Among food manufacturing subindustries, animal slaughtering and processing had the most MSDs, with 1,740 cases. Although animal slaughtering and processing had the most number of cases, the incidence rate for this industry and its median days away from work were almost equal to that of private industry as a whole; 33.0 out of every 10,000 workers in animal slaughtering and processing suffered MSDs, with a median of 9 days away from work, while 33.4 out of every 10,000 workers in private industry suffered MSDs, with a median of 10 days away from work manufacturing.