Department of Health Promotion, Center for Reducing Health Disparities, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Center for Reducing Health Disparities, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2021 Feb;64(2):84-96. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23206. Epub 2020 Dec 7.
Meatpacking is dangerous, dirty, and demanding (3-D) work-much of which is done by immigrant workers. It is characterized by high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses due to the speed of the production line, repetitive motions, and other inherent exposures. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore perceptions of safety culture among Hispanic/Latino meatpacking workers in the Midwest.
Five focus groups with a total of 28 participants were conducted between March 2019 and February 2020 with Hispanic/Latino meatpacking workers in Nebraska. Workers were asked about the type of work performed, how the work was physically done, and perceptions of health risks and exposures. Thematic analysis was used to build a description of safety culture within the meatpacking industry.
Three main themes were found: (1) workers depicted a culture where companies cared more about production than people; (2) workers felt powerless in improving their situation; and (3) workers noted that the work was precarious, both dangerous and one where much of the responsibility for safety was shifted to the individual workers.
The meatpacking industry has a poor safety culture. Safety culture within the industry may be improved by ensuring that organizational values and artifacts are aligned with safety by addressing the critical role of supervisors, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate consistent safety training and messaging to the workforce, and enforcing and strengthening safety regulations.
肉类加工业工作环境危险、肮脏且要求苛刻（3D），其中大部分工作由移民工人完成。由于生产线速度快、动作重复和其他固有暴露因素，该行业的职业伤害和疾病发生率很高。本定性研究的目的是探讨中西部地区西班牙裔/拉丁裔肉类包装工人对安全文化的看法。
2019 年 3 月至 2020 年 2 月期间，在内布拉斯加州与西班牙裔/拉丁裔肉类包装工人进行了 5 次焦点小组讨论，共有 28 名参与者。工人被问及所从事的工作类型、工作的物理完成方式以及对健康风险和暴露的看法。采用主题分析来构建肉类包装行业安全文化的描述。
发现了三个主要主题：（1）工人们描述了一种公司更关心生产而不是人的文化；（2）工人们感到无力改善自己的处境；（3）工人们指出工作不稳定，既危险又将大部分安全责任转移到个体工人身上。
肉类加工业的安全文化很差。通过确保组织价值观和人工制品与安全保持一致，可以改善该行业的安全文化，方法是解决主管的关键作用，为员工提供文化和语言上适当且一致的安全培训和信息，以及执行和加强安全法规。
