Life on Chicken Assembly Line

Interesting information in this article about how automation drives the pace of a chicken assembly line.

Today, the maximum permissible rate is 140 birds per minute, and the industry recently pushed for a higher limit of 170.

[…] Line speeds are set by the Department of Agriculture with an eye to food safety, rather than worker well-being. The rate refers to the speed at which machines eviscerate each carcass, and that number naturally determines human production speed down the line. More than 75% of poultry workers in line jobs reported cumulative trauma disorders in their hands and wrists, according to a 2013 survey by the Southern Poverty Law Center.