Matthew Chalmers
The workers trapped in factory farming face extreme stress and hardship.
Billions of animals are slaughtered in factory farms every year and this gruelling work has human victims too.
Animal farming today is factory farming. As many as 90% of the world’s farmed animals live on factory farms - between 47 and 238 billion individuals at any given time, excluding invertebrates. This system requires millions of workers to police and maintain it, and the hazards, cruelty and pollution of the job severely impact the people caught up in it.
Physical health
Animal farming is a major source of pollution. Animal waste builds up in huge amounts, and can be left untreated for long periods of time. The frontline workers in the sheds and farms are exposed to huge amounts of faecal particles and noxious gases emitted from waste.
Inhaling particulate matter and related gases like ammonia and hydrogen sulphide causes irritation in the eyes, throat and lungs. Repeat exposure can lead to chronic respiratory disorders, aggravated asthma, cardiovascular complications, and premature death.
If this wasn’t bad enough, there is the risk of disease and bacterial infection - it's been shown that workers in pig farms can carry dangerous bacteria from the farm inside their nose for days on end.
There is also physical danger from things like slipping in waste, malfunctioning heavy machinery, or animals defending themselves. The repetition of the same forceful motions thousands of times a day can also lead to the development of chronic pain and disabling injuries. In some horrific cases workers have drowned after falling into liquid ‘manure lagoons’.
Overall, farming is the second most dangerous industry to work in in the UK, just behind construction.
Mental health
A systematic review of all the literature on psychological health in farmers found that “pesticide exposure, financial difficulties, climate variabilities/drought, and poor physical health/past injuries” were the major causes of mental health problems. The chemical and physical dangers of farming are closely related to damage to farmers’ mental health.
Additionally, research carried out by the University of Exeter found that poor mental health amongst farmers was strongly correlated with keeping livestock, rather than growing plants.
Beyond the factory farm and in the slaughterhouse, the mental health burden on workers is severe. After their first kill, workers have reported feelings of shock, trauma, paranoia, fear, guilt, anxiety and shame, and often suffer from recurring nightmares. To deal with these feelings workers adopt strategies to cope, which range from dissociating from their work and suppressing their emotions to devaluing animals and engaging in alcohol and drug abuse.
Crime
The psychological trauma of slaughterhouse work can create wider social problems, and slaughterhouses have been associated with higher crime rates. Slaughterhouse work correlates with higher rates of antisocial behaviour and sexual offences.
Some studies also suggest that there’s a correlation between slaughterhouse work and increased rates of violent crime. One study found that US counties which contained slaughterhouses tended to have higher rates of arrest, rape and familial crimes like domestic abuse. It concluded that this pointed to a relationship between the violence of killing nonhuman animals and violence towards humans.
Workers’ rights
Many of those working in the animal industry are migrant workers, who are at risk of exploitation. Thousands of meat-sector workers in Europe are hired “through subcontractors, agencies and bogus co-operatives on inferior pay and conditions.” Many of these workers, placed on temporary contracts, are paid between 40% and 50% less than their directly employed counterparts.
It is far harder for these groups, who in the US include imprisoned people, to organise and defend their rights. Even if they did, the factory farm system demands maximal profit and creates environments which are hyper-intensive and crowded, becoming dirty and dangerous as a consequence. The nature of the system itself weighs down on its employees, as well as its billions of animal victims.
Conclusions
Factory farming is dangerous for workers, damaging their physical and mental health. It is dangerous for the rest of society too, as a source of climate destruction, antibiotic-resistant bugs, future pandemics and crime. That it's dangerous for animals needs no explanation - millions of animals suffer and die before they even get to the slaughterhouse.
Who is factory farming good for? The question is impossible to answer. Nobody should tolerate the crimes factory farming inflicts on its human and animal victims.
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