S.F. No. 1598 - Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act

• Establishes a meatpacking industry worker rights coordinator within the Department of Labor and Industry to enforce workplace safety standards and submit annual reports to the governor and legislative committees.

• Grants meat-processing workers the right to refuse work under dangerous conditions without employer discrimination or retaliation, and requires employers to continue paying workers while hazardous conditions are remedied.

• Requires meat-processing employers to implement comprehensive safe worker programs including ergonomic hazard assessments, worker training on musculoskeletal injury prevention, and medical management under occupational medicine specialists.

• Mandates pandemic protections during public health emergencies including six-foot worker spacing, free masks and shields, hand sanitization stations, facility disinfection, ventilation systems, paid sick leave accrual (one hour per 30 hours worked), and health and safety committees with worker representation.

• Establishes enforcement mechanisms including private civil actions, civil penalties of at least $100 per day per affected worker, whistleblower protections with treble damages for retaliation, and authorizes the attorney general and local law enforcement to pursue violations.