Feasibility research report for insuring commercial poultry production

Human or Personal RiskPoultry operations must manage human risk in compliance with the Occupational Safety andHealth Act (OSHA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Costs of complying with OSHAstandards for protecting workers do not appear to have a substantial impact on the cost structureof poultry operations. In addition to concerns about regulatory rule changes, growers are alsoasked to express concern with worker health and retention. Poultry workers, including poultrycaretakers, farm managers, flock supervisors, and poultry catchers, spend most of their time inbuildings and are in high-risk labor categories. 33 Hazards include respiratory hazards (such asammonia gas, dust, molds, and airborne animal wastes), noise hazards that may lead to workerhearing loss, animal hazards (such as risk of tetanus infections), and mechanical hazards. Aswith all confinement operations, disease transmission from house to house, site to site, andoperation to operation requires constant vigilance and control of access. In addition, as in mostagricultural operations, key personnel are subject to retirement, death, and divorce.II.D. Poultry ProgramsProducers can avail themselves of a variety of support programs from the Federal, state, andprivate sectors. Some of these programs specifically address risk. Others assist in riskmanagement by providing information that allows the producer to make informed decisions.Programs available to poultry producers generally are described herein. Purchased riskmanagement programs supporting individual poultry sectors are addressed in the individualsector sections of this report.Federal ProgramsFederal programs supporting poultry producers are described briefly herein. These programs areoffered primarily by agencies and services of the Department of Agriculture.United States Department of AgricultureUSDA programs supporting poultry producers are described as follows. Agencies and serviceswithin the USDA are listed alphabetically.Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)Poultry growers benefit from general services of AMS including the following programs:GradingStandardizationInternational ProgramsPromotion and ResearchMarketing and Economic ResearchAnimal Protein Free Certification ProgramShell Egg Surveillance Program,Eggs Products Inspection ActShell Egg Grading and Certification33 Ellington, G., 2002, Improving the Health and Safety of Poultry Facility Workers, North Carolina State University CooperativeExtension, North Carolina State University.Use or disclosure of information or data17Risk Management Agencycontained on this sheet is subject to theContract No: N10PC18148restrictions on the title page of this report.