In 1990, the U.S. meat industry determined that worker safety should be a non-competitive issue.  That means that companies within the industry should share information, programs and ideas for the good of every employee working in the industry. 

One of the first tangible results of this non-competitive issue was the 1990 Voluntary Ergonomic Guidelines for the Meat Industry, developed by AMI, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  These guidelines had an immediate and measurable effect, resulting in sustained declines in workplace illnesses and injury since they were implemented. 

Their dramatic impact prompted former OSHA Administrator Joe Dear to comment that the guidelines are “a model for the other industries.”