The head of S.C. OSHA will ask a special task force to study the state's poultry industry and suggest ways for keeping workers safe. The decision was triggered by the Observer series "The Cruelest Cuts," which reported in February that weak enforcement, minimal fines and declining inspections have allowed companies to ignore hazards that can kill and injure poultry workers. The newspaper also reported that two S.C. factories owned by N.C.-based House of Raeford Farms have masked the extent of worker injuries. Calling the Observer's findings "disturbing," Adrienne Youmans, director of the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, said the agency depends on employers to provide a safe and healthy workplace. "OSHA can't do it alone," she said. In response to Observer questions, Youmans said her department is gathering data on Hispanic worker safety in the poultry industry. She said her department will later ask the state's Hispanic Worker Safety Task Force to review that data and give feedback on how companies and state regulators can better protect poultry workers. House of Raeford and other poultry companies depend heavily on workers' hands to turn thousands of birds each day into convenient cuts for restaurants, stores and cafeterias. Companies increasingly rely on Latino immigrants, who are often reluctant to complain about injuries for fear of being fired or deported. In some plants, Latinos make up more than 90 percen ...
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