Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-93-0230-2405: Tyson Foods; Monett, Missouri

Details

• Personal Author:
  Parker, Michael G. ; Weber, Angela M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the management of the Tyson Foods (SIC- 2015), Monett, Missouri, an investigation was begun into symptoms potentially related to work in the evisceration area of the poultry processing facility. Workers had reported symptoms including burning and watery eyes, dry throat, and sinus problems. The facility processed about 200,000 chickens per day, with the evisceration lines running at 70 birds per minute. The ventilation system was evaluated, and air samples were collected. Medical symptom questionnaires were completed by 111 Tyson employees and seven USDA employees. Symptoms included runny nose, sinus congestion, cough, sore or dry throat, and dry or irritated eyes. Water samples were collected from the superchlorinated spray water system. Industrial hygiene samples revealed low chlorine (7782505) levels in the area and in the personal breathing zone. During work breaks, water samples showed elevated peak concentrations of chlorine. The problem was attributed to the chlorinator and may have been the cause of the discomfort the workers reported. The heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system was inadequate as designed for distributing and exhausting air from the work area. Engineering controls were suggested to alleviate this problem. The authors conclude that mucous membrane irritation symptoms were present in workers
  
  exposure to chlorine was identified as a potential causative agent. The authors recommend that engineering controls, administrative controls and medical management be instituted.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Ammonia Eye Foreign Bodies Food-Processing Industry Food Industry Hazardous Substances Irritants Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Ammonia Chloramines Chlorine Eye-irritants Food-processing-industry Food-processing-workers Hazard-Confirmed HETA-93-0230-2405 Irritative Symptoms NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 7 Poultry-industry Poultry: Slaughtering And Dressing Poultry Processing Respiratory-irritants Toxic-gases

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9302302405
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Missouri ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  16 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00219673
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB94-187226
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 93-0230-2405, 1994 Mar ; :1-20
• CAS Registry Number:
  Chlorine (CAS RN 7782-50-5)
• Editor(s):
  Moore, Elaine
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2015 - Poultry slaughtering and processing - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7411e011a9651f312dbce051dcbcb7e86592f39d2e71577c52fef0838162aabc0f59d79ea6499bf5c810dba9bc5cf755f6d205265ea7c14c9353a7245a600349
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171381/cdc_171381_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 254.94 KB ]