Occupational Accidents and Illnesses in Brazilian Slaughterhouses: National Overview

Agribusiness is on the rise in Brazil and the slaughtering and meat product manufacturing sector occupies a prominent position in exports. However, there are few epidemiological studies on workplace accidents in this sector. This cross-sectional observational epidemiological study aimed to analyze the national panorama of occupational accidents and illnesses in the slaughtering and meat products manufacturing sector in Brazil. The variables: total occupational accident (ATT), occupational illness (DT), occupational accident (AT) without Work Accident Reporting (CAT) and the number of workers in each National Classification of Economic Activity (CNAE) were extracted from the Statistical Yearbook of Occupational Accidents (AEAT) and the Annual List of Social Information (RAIS) of each CNAE from 2019. The slaughter and meat products manufacturing sector caused 62 ATT and 6.65 AT underreported daily. In absolute numbers, this sector ranked 3rd in ATT (22,757), 2nd in DT (697) and 4th in underreporting of TA in Brazil (2,429; 10.7%). The activity of slaughtering pigs, poultry and small animals (CNAE 1012) was the leader in the sector, ranking 5th nationally in number of ATT (12,474), 2nd in DT (541) and 7th in AT without CAT (1,489; 11 .9% underreporting). However, the activity of slaughtering livestock, except pigs (CNAE 1011) was the one with the highest prevalence of ATT (5.62%) among the activities in this sector (5th in the national ranking) and CNAE 1012 of DT (0. 1698%) (14th in the national ranking).