"Brazil’s meat plants could be putting pregnant workers at risk, say health experts", 07 July 2022

...Between 2016 and 2019, more than 2,600 pregnant women working in meat plants were reported as suffering maternal disorders, including infections, bleeding and excessive vomiting, according to Brazil’s National Institute of Social Security (INSS).

The excess risk of maternal disorders for the pig and poultry sectors, where most women work, was at least twice as high compared with all other employment sectors in Brazil between 2000 and 2016, according to data collated by labour prosecutors, who are now arguing for safer working conditions...

Potential risks for pregnant women may include small leakages of ammonia (a gas used in the refrigeration system), inappropriate postures at work stations, exposure to low temperatures and viruses or bacteria present in animal meat, says Dr Roberto Ruiz, a health consultant at Contac, a federation of food workers’ unions...

A court had granted an injunction to their union in late March, ordering that pregnant employees without full vaccination against Covid-19, or working in jobs subject to harmful agents, be put on leave...

JBS appealed against the decision and, due to a change in ministry of health protocols, the women returned to work in April...

JBS says it does not comment on ongoing lawsuits, “but reinforces that all pregnant employees who returned to work at the Forquilhinha and Nova Veneza units and who previously worked in environments with temperature variations, for example, were reassigned to other activities”.

The company also says it has invested more than £50m “in health and safety measures, systems and processes in all its facilities”...