Juridical tutelage concerning the health of meat packing workers: public service considerations

Abstract

This paper considers the working conditions in the meat-packing industry, an economic sector with a high rate of occupational diseases. Preventing occupational diseases by reducing the inherent working risks carries fundamental value for the whole health protection model of the workers. However, the high standards for rights regarding life, health, and environmental harmony based on the Federal Constitution clashes with the existence of a real synergy of occupational risk factors (repetition, monotony, time pressure, the cold, the intensity, long hours, wrong postures), and leaves the companies of this sector not adopting the measures recommended by the legal precepts-the result of which is a high contingent of injured workers, especially younger workers. The present paper aims to describe the working conditions in two companies from this sector. This analysis was made from data from the INSS, from infractions reported by Labor Auditors, and other evidence from civil investigations initiated by the Public Labor Ministry. The conclusion from these analyses is that the reality is characterized by a failure to comply with the occupational health standards recommended by the Federal Constitution.