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What does the last sentence mean? That it doesn't affect their work too much, or that it isn't reported as much as it should? I assume the second thing.

Cant see the article, but they will have some tests of work related functional ability (things like grip strength, dexterity tests etc).

They are saying that there are high levels of reported pain, but that the impact on functional ability is only mild-moderate according to the tests. Doubtless it is underreported as well, but idk if this study would be measuring that

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Surprise, all repetitive tasks of manual labor eventually lead to pain and injury. More effort has to be put in prevention, physiotherapy on-site for example. It makes no sense ruining your body for a near poverty level wage.

Yeah, silly impoverished people.

Maybe all that suffering is rubbing off on them.

Yeah, but if they had to deal with the same grievances as the poultry, they’d be losing their heads over it!

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Have there been studies on the long term psychological effects of working in slaughterhouses?

I've known many people who work for printing businesses. Either magazines or books, or even just paper manufacturing. They all end up having surgeries, and it's like some badge of honor for them. Like they brag about being the idiot that sacrifices themselves to be the "hard worker". Like no, you are the assholes telling the bosses that it's okay to be treated like garbage.

I can’t answer your question. I can only anecdotally state that after working 3 1/2 years in a Tyson slaughter-to-pack plant, my body was wrecked and I couldn’t eat chicken. Took about 3 more years after leaving before I could.

Exactly. In most shops, having a physiotherapist coming every 2 months to observe all workstations and give advice to the workers would be highly beneficial. I have mentionned that to the bosses and syndicate so many times...

That makes sense. Hope you’re in a less taxing job now. :)

Yeah and being in almost any trade, electrician, plumber, construction worker, you're sacrificing your body as well. You just get compensated more fairly for the extra wear and tear on your body.

I worked in a slaughterhouse. It was terrible

People to feel very sorry for and hope they get better work.

One of the worst jobs i ever did.

Turkey factory

Absolutely foul ( no pun intended) and a high percentage of work mates were legitimate psychopaths.

One woman who worked there didn't take her rubber work boots off at home and her German Shepard dog licked her boots and died of salmonella poisoning.

I managed 2 months.

Studies have shown that in addition to the immense suffering of the non-human animals (NHAs) there, slaughterhouse workers (SHWs) also suffer mentally and physically.

According to a 2021 systemic review of 14 studies concerning SHWs:

>...SHWs have a higher prevalence rate of mental health issues, in particular depression and anxiety, in addition to violence-supportive attitudes. Furthermore, the workers employ a variety of both adaptive and maladaptive strategies to cope with the workplace environment and associated stressors.

Other issues the review found SHWs to be at increased risk for included: stress, low self-esteem, lack in sense of purpose, lack in sense of personal development, aggression, psychoticism, and somatization.[1] One of the reviewed studies found that SHWs experience depression at a rate four times the national average,[2] while another found that women working in poultry plants experience severe depression at a rate of more than five times that of women in other jobs.[3] One former SHW, while explaining an incident involving the slaughter of a pregnant cow who was in the middle of giving birth, stated:

>I'd come home and be in a bad mood[.] Go right downstairs and go to sleep. Yell at the kids, stuff like that.... I've gotten so mad some days I'd go and pound on the wall.... See, I'm an ex-Marine. The blood and guts don't bother me. It's the inhumane treatment. There's just so much of it.[4]

One South African study saw some of their subjects describe their experiences with substance abuse or outside violent actions as maladaptive behaviour.[5]

SHWs also suffer physical trauma. In the US, SHWs are three times more likely than the average American worker to suffer serious injury, and nearly seven times more likely to suffer repetitive strain injuries.[6] A 2019 report by Human Rights Watch into meatpacking in the USA found that:

>Most workers interviewed...for this report shared experiences of serious injury or illness caused by their work. Many showed the scars, scratches, missing fingers, or distended, swollen joints that reflected these stories. Some broke into tears describing the stress, physical pain, and emotional strain they regularly suffer. Almost all explained that their lives, both in the plant and at home, had grown to revolve around managing chronic pain or sickness.[7]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, SHWs were subjected to unnecessary risk by meat companies. In a damning report by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, they concluded:

>Meatpacking companies knew the risk posed by the coronavirus to their workers and knew it wasn’t a risk that the country needed them to take. They nonetheless lobbied aggressively—successfully enlisting USDA as a close collaborator in their efforts—to keep 33 workers on the job in unsafe conditions, to ensure state and local health authorities were powerless to mandate otherwise, and to be protected against legal liability for the harms that would result. The results of this lobbying campaign were tragic: during the first year of the pandemic, workforces for Smithfield, Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef alone saw at least 59,000 worker infections, at least 269 worker deaths, and countless more cases and deaths among meatpacking-adjacent communities driven by plant outbreaks.[8]

Cases like that weren't unique to the US.[9] Slaughterhouses aren't just awful for the non-human animals who suffer and die there, they're also awful for the humans who work there.

References

[1] Slade, J. & Alleyne, E. "The Psychological Impact of Slaughterhouse Employment: A Systematic Literature Review." Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, vol.0, no.0, 2021.

[2] Leibler, J.H., Janulewicz, P.A. & Perry, M.J. "Prevalence of serious psychological distress among slaughterhouse workers at a United States beef packing plant." Work, vol.57, no.1, 2017, pp.105-109.

[3] Lipscomb,H.J., Dement, J.M. et al. "Depressive symptoms among working women in rural North Carolina: A comparison of women in poultry processing and other low wage jobs." International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, vol.30, no.4-5, 2007, pp.284-298.

[4] Eisnitz, G.A. Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry. Prometheus Books, 2007.

[5] Victor, K. & Barnard, A. "Slaughtering for a living: A hermeneutic phenomenological perspective on the well-being of slaughterhouse employees." International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, vol.11, no.1, 2016.

[6] Wasley, A., Cook, C.D. & Jones, N. "Two amputations a week: the cost of working in a US meat plant." The Guardian, 5 Jul 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/05/amputations-serious-injuries-us-meat-industry-plant. Accessed 30 Dec 2022.

[7] Stauffer, B. “When We’re Dead and Buried, Our Bones Will Keep Hurting”: Workers’ Rights Under Threat in US Meat and Poultry Plants. Human Rights Watch, 2019, p.2.

[8] ‘Now to Get Rid of Those Pesky Health Departments!’: How the Trump Administration Helped the Meatpacking Industry Block Pandemic Worker Protections. Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, 12 May 2022, pp.32-33.

[9] Plant__Eater. "Cargill issues lockout notice to staff at one of Canada's largest beef-processing plants." Reddit, 28 Nov 2021. https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/r49hja/comment/hmgtbnj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3. Accessed 30 Dec 2022.

Thank you so much for sharing. It’s truly awful. Not unexpected, but still awful just the same.

If they feel like that, imagine how the poultry feels

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Study confirms: manual labor takes a toll on the body! Scientists take a bow you are truly the best and brightest minds we have. Here's a million doll hairs.

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i don't know how the poultry feels

only know how it taste

Damn, if there knees were blasted and grinded to dust as well you could call them wrestlers.

Oh man, I guess Cargill supports universal healthcare, right guys?

It means they got chronic pain that they work through, because they have to.