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While Israel has taken action in recent years to increase safety measures in other industries the government has yet to enact standards in the slaughterhouse where shochtim stand side by side often in crowded conditions sharpened knives in hand.

“In the poultry-slaughtering industry there is no supervision no regulation and no procedures in place in case of accidents” says Sabi Amar chairman of the Shochtim Association at the Milo’of factory in Acco. “This is a matter of life and death and we have to make sure to deal with it before it’s too late.”

Amar says the government has never provided clear guidelines for a safe amount of space between ritual slaughterers. “It’s enough for the knife of the shochet next to you to slip a bit too far and you can be injured” he says. “That’s also the reason there are very few shochtim who don’t bear scars of injuries some worse some less.”

At the factory where he works he says the company recently added two shochtim to stand on a ramp that already included 12 slaughterers. He has contacted the Economy Ministry to complain about workplace conditions but so far they have done nothing to address his concerns.

According to halachah a shochet needs to do his job calmly Amar says “but when you are always under pressure about what is behind or ahead of you there’s no way you can concentrate on the slaughter because you’re afraid of getting hurt.”

According to a spokesperson for the Economy Ministry shochtim are protected by “various means such as protective gloves with long sleeves that protect against sharp objects.” The Ministry further said that any halachic guidelines regarding shechitah are not under their purview.

The Agriculture Ministry likewise says that worker safety is not under its authority. “If it would be a matter of damage to the chickens we would be dealing with it but regarding the chareidi shochtim — they are not under our purview and we have no responsibility toward them.”

Daniel Bar a spokesman for the Chief Rabbinate also says his ministry has no authority in worker safety. “But we will look into the matter [of worker safety]” he told Mishpacha “and if we believe that there is a specific problem in the area of safety in shechitah we will contact the relevant ministry to examine the introduction of legislation to ameliorate the matter.”

Amar isn’t the only one who’s concerned about worker safety. Itamar Firchi of the Power for Workers organization which works with the Association for Poultry Slaughterers said enough isn’t being done to protect workers from harm.

“Over the past few years that we have been accompanying kosher shechitah in Israel we have encountered dozens of work accidents relating to the profession that stem from improper work settings lack of safety regulations lack of guidance of oversight or from insufficient equipment or supplies. The number of accidents and the insufficient responses we receive from employers have led us to the understanding that the entity in charge [the Economy Ministry] is the only one that can bring about the necessary change in the industry and thus we demand its intervention immediately.”