Farm safety priorities
Poor working conditions for hired farm workers have been a persistent problem in the U.S., but they haven't received sufficient attention, according to a recent NIOSH report. About 2.5 million people perform hired agricultural work in the U.S. The ag industry has the second-highest rate of occupational fatalities in the country, according to government data.
Now a new NIOSH publication, "New Directions in the Surveillance of Hired Farm Worker Health and Occupational Safety," has identified ten occupational health priorities and ranked them in order of their importance:
- workplace ergonomic conditions and musculoskeletal injuries
- pesticides
- traumatic injuries
- respiratory diseases
- water quality
- infectious diseases
- cancer
- eye conditions
- mental health
The report also lists seven research priorities:
- pesticides,
- ergonomic and musculoskeletal conditions,
- injuries,
- effect of protective measures,
- cancer,
- identification of control or comparison populations,
- mental health.
The report can be accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hfw-index.html
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