A journalistic investigation found that poultry company House of Raeford hid injuries to workers that occurred inside its factory, and injured workers were either intimidated, ignored or fired. In addition, the company has filed misleading injury reports and defied regulators.

Since 2000, House of Raeford has received citations for 130 serious workplace safety violations. This is more than most United States poultry companies.

House of Raeford failed to record injuries on government safety logs, which is against the law. Records from the company suggest only several workers are injured each year, but experts say that’s unlikely.

The Columbia, South Carolina plant, which has 800 employees, reported no musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) over a four-year period. And a Greenville, South Carolina plant has boasted of a five-year safety streak with no lost-time accidents. But this could have been misleading, as the company brought injured workers back to the factory only hours after surgery.

At four of the largest House of Raeford plants in NC and SC, first-aid staff have dismissed workers’ requests to see a doctor, refusing worker’s compensation, even while complaining of debilitating pain.

Director of the national injury and illness record-keeping system for the U.S. Labor Department Bob Whitmore said the agency has failed to protect poultry workers. The House of Raeford plants’ behavior, he said, is a violation of the laws of human decency.

Companies that report lower injury rates are rewarded by the government by being inspected less often. Since 2004, no House of Raeford plant has been randomly inspected. The government also rarely checks the accuracy of companies’ reporting.

House of Raeford plants kill, cut and package chicken for restaurants, stores and cafeterias. Some employees are illegal immigrants, and are hesitant to complain of injuries for fear of being fired or deported.

More than 50 former workers were interviewed as part of the journalistic investigation, ten of whom said they were fired after reporting injuries.

One former employment supervisor at a House of Raeford plant, Belem Villegas, said she urged managers to send injured employees to a doctor, but they often refused and did not like “repeat complainers.”

“They’d say, ‘Belem, if they keep coming to the office, they’re going to have to be let go,’” Villegas said. “You complain and you become unemployed.”

Source: “Report: House of Raeford hid injuries, ignored hurt workers,” News and Observer, February 10, 2008.