After a 15 year battle, Brazilian workers finally achieved a negotiated standard to improve worker safety in slaughterhouses.
The new Regulatory Standard No. 36 , ratified on 18 April, seeks to prevent and reduce workplace illnesses and accidents through detailed regulation to improve workplace infrastructure and tools.
Measures such as the introduction of a compulsory 10 minute break every 50 minutes worked, a reduced workload, the introduction of safety risk management and personal safety equipment etc.
Clovis Veloso, a representative of the meat processing businesses in the negotiation process, estimated that the industry will need to invest around seven billion USD over the next two years to live up to the standard.
Rather than looking at it as a mere extra cost, he sees it as “an investment in improving the life quality of our workers.”
Poor working conditions
As in many other countries, working conditions in the meat processing industry in Brazil are amongst the worst.
Workers, who use heavy machinery to cut up animal parts, are under pressure to hit high productivity targets.
As a result, they endure long working hours, exhaustion, poor infrastructure, insufficient safety equipment and there are many cases where workers’ fingers become numb after hours working in cold refrigerators, resulting in casualties.
In 2011, the government registered 19,453 accidents – that equalled 2.73 per cent of all workplace accidents in Brazil, including 32 fatal accidents.
The industry employs 750,000 workers and exports of 15.6 billion USD worth of meat every year to more than 150 countries around the world.
“During the time that I worked there, I saw some ugly accidents,” said Vinicius, a former slaughterhouse worker in the southern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
“One man cut off a finger with the saw, the conveyor belt ripped of the leg of another and a young guy lost movement in his thumb when touched the electric wiring while pulling a cow. The rest were minor cutting wounds needing about 10 to 15 stitches.”
Vinicius is just one of the workers interviewed by Repórter Brasil for a report denouncing the slave-like working conditions revealed in September last year.
The report also maps supply chains to identify the main businesses responsible.
"The workers we spoke to were truly desperate. Through the tremendous work pressure and poor protection they risk serious injuries every time they go to work and they fear dismissal when complaining. The Marfrig factory in Hulha Negra, produces canned meat for Tesco’s house brand, the largest retailer in the UK. In December 2011, the Public Labour Prosecutor noted the absence of 12 per cent of local workers because of work related accidents or sickness," said Leonardo Sakamoto, Director of Repórter Brasil.
The global situation
Meanwhile this March in Europe, Belgium filed a complaint with the European Commission against Germany for social dumping and unfair competition driving down working conditions in the industry to an unacceptable low.
In 2011, the Belgian National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking highlighted extreme exploitation in the local meat processing industry.
While most of the attention has recently gone to the presence of horse meat in food products, the International Union of Foodworkers highlighted weak labour standards throughout the industry as the root cause of serial food safety scandals.
The Brazilian government , however, has finally shown itself to be prepared to address these root causes.
Siderlei de Oliveira, who negotiated the agreement on behalf of the National Union of Foodworkers (CONTAC/CUT), said: “It is an important step forward in the war against occupational injuries. I’m leaving for Argentina upon invitation of the unions there who want to use our standard as an example.
"Next month I will be travelling to Europe. Before, we were using Europe as an example when discussing health and safety at work. Today, it is with pride that we are giving this example to the world.”
Labour Minister Manoel Dias highlighted the importance of the tripartite process of the elaboration of the standard. “We understand that through discussion, dialogue and mutual understanding you will always move forward. There is no use in laying down rules which are unrealistic in practice.”
In this short video by Repórter Brasil, workers talk about the difficult work pressure faced by the workers:
