US poultry workers wear diapers on job for lack of bathroom breaks

A recent report published by Oxfam America shows thousands of poultry firm workers suffer inhumane treatment at processing plants. They are regularly denied bathroom breaks, with some of them wearing diapers while working on the processing line for fear of losing their jobs.

The report, conducted between 2013 and 2016 based on sources of interviews with poultry workers across the US, documents the brutal details and life-threatening conditions that poultry employees face every day.

“It's not just their dignity that suffers; they are in danger of serious health problems," said the UK-based global development group's US arm, Oxfam America.

The report cited some unnamed workers from the US largest poultry firms who said that their bosses mock them, ignore their requests for restroom breaks and threaten discipline or firing.

“Workers struggle to cope with this denial of a basic human need," the report read.

Even if they can manage to get permission for a limited time, sometimes 10 minutes, they wait in long lines for the bathroom, the report said.

Some workers have urinated or defecated on themselves while working because they can't hold it any longer, according to the report.

“They urinate and defecate while standing on the line; they wear diapers to work; they restrict intake of liquids and fluids to dangerous degrees; they endure pain and discomfort while they worry about their health and job security," the report said.

The report says a worker at a Simmons Foods plant in Arkansas told Oxfam that she and many others resorted to wearing diapers. A Tyson Foods worker says in the report that many workers at his North Carolina plant “have to urinate in their pants."

To avoid the embarrassment of becoming so desperate that they urinate or defecate on the floor, many workers say that they've grown accustomed to wearing diapers while at work. "I had to wear Pampers," one worker told Oxfam. "I, and many, many others had to wear Pampers."

According to the US Poultry & Egg Association, the value of broiler chicken production alone showed a six percent growth in 2014, bringing in $32.7 billion to the industry. During the same year, 188 million chickens were sold for $96.6 million, marking a growth of 10 percent.

However, workers behind the scenes hardly benefited from the increasing revenues. Instead, their labor conditions appeared to have worsened.

A worker named Susana, who spoke with VICE news on the condition her real name not be used, said that her supervisor at the Tyson poultry plant in Arkansas where she works caps bathroom breaks at seven minutes. Susana's job is to clean the chickens which have just been eviscerated. It smells like a combination of chicken blood and bleach, she says. It's also very cold, to protect the machines from overheating.

She said that supervisors advise workers to avoid drinking water.

"They are told they shouldn't drink a lot of water so they don't need to go to the bathroom," Susana said. Many workers surveyed in the report say that they limit their liquid intake to avoid needing to urinate while at work.

The report documented difficulties, especially for menstruating or pregnant women.

It warned that workers could face serious medical problems, including urinary tract infections.

The Vice news said that authorities do not monitor the workplace nor issue proper penalties to firm owners that could prevent such violations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a body that monitors working conditions and develops standardized workplace regulations, only inspected less than one percent of the country's workplace in 2013.

“The average federal penalty issued by OSHA for a "serious violation" — health and safety hazards that pose significant risk of injury or death — was just $1,972," the news said.