Chapter 8 Amanda Hagan & Brooke Harris

 The author’s intent was to inform the audience of the dangers that slaughterhouse workers face and to make them aware of the corruption within the slaughterhouse business.

 The injury and death rate within slaughter houses is exceedingly high. The number of reported injuries, however, is far lower than the true figures. One slaughterhouse kept two logs, one for recording every injury, the other for visiting inspectors. The first log documented 1,800 injuries, while the log showed to inspectors documented only 160 injuries.

 The deaths that occur on the job within the slaughterhouses are greatly under exaggerated. In one instance, one man working in the sanitation department climbed into a 30-foot tall blood- collection to clean it. The man was overcome by the hydrogen sulfide fumes and two coworkers climbed in to save him. All three men died. Eight years later, another man was in the tank when he too was overcome by hydrogen sulfide fumes. Another man climbed in to save him. Both men died. The slaughterhouse was fined $480 for each man’s death. In one slaughterhouse, which had never been inspected, there was a fire and the doors had been chained shut and the bodies of the employees were found piled by the door, charred beyond recognition.

Slaughterhouse employees may wait months or even years before receiving health care benefits, and only after going through multiple court visits and appeals. The company chooses the doctors the employees visit and the company doctors often report the injury to be far less serious than it actually is. Losing an arm is worth $36,000, and amputated finger is $2,200-$4,500 depending on the finger, and any permanent disfigurement “exposed to public view” is worth a maximum of $2,000.

 The author provided sufficient details to get their point across. The author’s bias may be defined as meeting the actual victims of being employed by the slaughterhouse. Throughout the years, companies are still more focused on monetary gains rather than the safety of their employees.