In an update to a 2005 report criticizing safety conditions for workers in the meat industry, the Government Accountability Office says injuries and illnesses are still common. From 2004 to 2013, 151 meat and poultry workers died from injuries sustained at work. The injury rate for meat workers remains higher than the rest of the manufacturing sector.

But injuries in the meat industry are also likely to be underreported.

The GAO found several situations that may keep reported numbers from packing plants lower than reality. Here are some examples:

• Sanitary workers who clean machinery in meat plants have suffered amputated limbs and severed fingers. Some have died on the job. But their cases are not always counted with meat and poultry industry data because many work for third-party contractors.
• Medical staff at on-site clinics have encouraged workers to return to the line without seeing a doctor for pain. GAO cited a case where a worker made 90 visits to a nursing station before being referred to a physician.
• Meat and poultry workers are often immigrants or refugees. They may downplay or not report injuries to protect their jobs and livelihoods. Language barriers can also prevent workers from receiving proper safety training.

“These limitations in (the Department of Labor’s) data collection raise questions about whether the federal government is doing all it can to collect the data it needs to support worker protection and workplace safety,” the GAO report said.

The GAO says safety researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should do more to study sanitation worker injuries and regulators should count them with injuries to other meat workers.

Worker advocates say they have long been suspicious of reported injury rates from meat companies. For instance, a recent study at a Maryland poultry plant by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found one-third of workers had injuries that meet the definition of carpal tunnel, but only a handful of injuries had been reported to OSHA.

When injuries aren’t reported and treated, advocates say, they get worse.

“It has profound consequences for the workers,” said Celeste Monforton, an occupational health researcher at George Washington University. “Their injuries are exacerbated, some beyond repair.”