Two health and safety news items for farmworkers
Written by barb howe Monday, 20 April 2009 10:16
The Sacramento Bee reports today that in an attempt to avoid the heat-related deaths of last summer, Cal-OSHA has unveiled a new interpretation of a work-safety rule that would require growers to provide shade canopies for their workers when temperatures in the field rise above 85 degrees.
Michael Marsh of the Agricultural Worker Health Project of California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. and other labor advocates say this is not enough. "Marsh and some occupational safety experts contend that farmworkers, especially, will remain vulnerable to heat stress as long as they feel compelled to work at factorylike speed to maximize piece-rate wages, a common form of pay. They are also hesitant, Marsh said, to appear weak by asking individually for an extra recovery break."
And in Florida, the state is investigating a farm in Immokalee where two pregnant female workers were hospitalized after being exposed to pesticides on the job.
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