Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Meatpacking Plant Workers
If you have been injured while working at a meat packing plant, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The Lakewood workplace injury lawyers at The Frickey Law Firm can work to ensure that your legal rights are respected throughout the process.
Meat packing plants are known to be dangerous places for workers. Many employers do not offer paid leave or even sick time. Instead, they push their employees to work through illnesses and under difficult conditions with very little consideration for the worker’s well-being. If you have been injured or sickened while working at a meat packing plant, such as JBS, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
Contact the Lawyers at The Frickey Law Firm to schedule a free initial consultation. Attorney Janet Frickey and her team know exactly how to deal with insurance companies who are being difficult and trying to deny you the compensation that you deserve.
Common Meat Packing Plant Injuries
Workers may be injured in many ways at a meat plant. They are often overworked, and their employer shows a lack of regard for their safety. Even though injury rates among meatpacking workers have fallen in recent years, they are still well above average. Meatpacking workers can suffer injuries in the following types of accidents and conditions:
- Falls on slippery floors
- Loss of limbs in grinders and cutters
- Lifting injuries
- Back and neck injuries
- Crush injuries from complex machinery and a lack of training in how to operate it
Many of these injuries can be serious and/or permanent, keeping you from being able to return to your job for a considerable amount of time or even working again. Your employer is continuously shuttling workers in and out of jobs, and they have a ready supply of labor, keeping them from being overly concerned about your safety. In meatpacking plants, everything is about productivity and not about you.
JBS Meatpacking Plant Hazards
The JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley has a checkered history when it comes to worker safety. In addition, workers are alleged to be subject to exploitation in numerous ways. The company has been fined repeatedly for safety abuses, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 has asked authorities to perform a complete investigation of working conditions at the plant. Employees are alleged to be forced to work in suboptimal conditions that can lead to injuries.
The Frickey Law Firm can handle you JBS Meatpacking work injury & workers’ comp claim. Call us today at 303-237-7373 to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our attorneys.
Workers’ Compensation Claims for Injured Meatpacking Employees
If you work at a meat packing plant, and you have been injured or sickened on the job, you may be able to file for workers’ compensation benefits. The key is that you inform your employer of your injury within ten days of it occurring. You must do this in writing, even though it is intimidating to let your employer know of your injury in what is known to be an abusive work environment. Your employer cannot take any action to retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim.
If your workers’ compensation claim is successful, you may receive the following benefits:
- Lost wages at Two-thirds of your average weekly wage at the time you were injured
- Reasonable and necessary medical expenses to treat your injury
- If a loved one has died on the job, the family can receive death benefits
- Financial compensation or settlement.
If you have suffered a permanent injury, your workers’ compensation attorney may be able to negotiate a settlement on your behalf so you can receive your benefits upfront in a lump sum payment. The amount of money that you receive would be tied to the severity of your injury, and the disability rating that you are given does not always reflect your present reality.
Since so many workers are injured while working at meatpacking plants, and the companies focus primarily on profits, you may expect a difficult time with your workers’ compensation claim. Your employer knows that their already high workers’ compensation insurance rates will escalate further, while the insurance company knows that they can be on the hook for a large amount of money. Anticipating a potentially difficult time, you should consider hiring a workers’ compensation attorney to help you in filing your claim.
Contact a Colorado Workers’ Compensation Law Firm Today
If you have been injured or sickened on the job while working at a meat packing plant, the workers’ compensation lawyers at The Frickey Law Firm are here to help. Call us today at 303-237-7373 to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our workers’ compensation attorneys, where we will discuss your legal path forward.

Attorney Janet Frickey wants to do the right thing. An impassioned litigator and client advocate for more than 40 years, Ms. Frickey is the owner and managing attorney of The Frickey Law Firm who focuses in workers’ compensation and personal injury. Learn more here.