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 The House of Representatives' coronavirus subcommittee asked JBS
USA, Tyson Foods Inc and Smithfield Foods Inc to provide records of
inspections, complaints and other internal documents.
The panel also asked the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), the nation's workplace safety watchdog, to
provide records of its efforts to enforce worker safety rules.
Meatpacking plants emerged as early hubs of coronavirus infection
last spring, forcing many of them to close temporarily and pushing
up meat prices. Companies erected physical barriers and took other
steps to protect workers, but they were not able to eliminate the
risk of infection.
Then-President Donald Trump in April ordered meat processing plants
to stay open to protect the U.S. food supply, despite concerns about
coronavirus outbreaks.
Surrounding communities also were affected. Meatpacking plants were
associated with at least 236,000 coronavirus cases and up to 5,200
deaths as of July, according to the National Academy of Sciences.
Labor unions and workers have accused the companies of taking
inadequate steps to protect workers.
Smithfield, Tyson and JBS said they have spent hundreds of millions
of dollars on worker safety, bonuses and other measures. All three
companies said they would cooperate with the investigation.
The Meat Institute trade group said case rates for industry workers
were five times lower in December than they were in May, while
infections rose for the U.S. population as a whole.
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 The coronavirus subcommittee's
chairman, U.S. Representative James Clyburn,
said his panel would also examine OSHA's
enforcement efforts under Trump, which he
described as ineffective. "It is
imperative that the previous Administration’s shortcomings are
swiftly identified and rectified to save lives in the months before
coronavirus vaccinations are available for all Americans," he said
in a statement.
In response, OSHA said more stringent safety guidelines issued to
employers on Friday were a "first step" in its efforts to work with
Congress on worker protections.
A Reuters investigation found that workplace inspections by OSHA
dropped 44% between March, when the virus began to spread widely in
the United States, and December.
OSHA last year fined Smithfield, owned by Hong Kong-listed WH Group
Ltd, $13,494 for a violation at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
plant, where four workers died and nearly 1,300 were infected. The
agency fined JBS $15,615 for a violation at its Greeley, Colorado,
plant, where six died and about 300 tested positive. Both companies
are appealing the fines.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Tom Polansek; Editing by Franklin
Paul and Jonathan Oatis)
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