Immigrant dairy workers' perceptions of health and safety on the farm in America's Heartland

Details

• Personal Author:
  Juarez-Carrillo PM ; Keifer MC ; Liebman AK ; Reyes IAC
• Description:
  Background: Dairy farming is dangerous. Yearly, farms grow fewer and larger by employing immigrant workers, who have limited industrial agriculture experience and safety and health training. Methods: We examined results of five focus groups with 37 Hispanic, immigrant dairy workers. Analysis followed a grounded theory approach and employed ATLAS.ti. Result: Reported injury experience affirmed the hazardous nature of dairy. Some workers received appropriate worker compensation benefits, whereas others were instructed to deny work-relatedness. Some employers covered medical injury costs out-of-pocket, whereas others did not. Cows were a major injury source. Pressure to work and weather were noted as injury risk factors. Worker compensation was poorly understood, and immigration status and fear of deportation influenced injury and hazard reporting. Conclusion: Injury management practices range from benevolent to threatening. Workers compensation is poorly understood and undocumented status is an occupational hazard. We underscore the need for further research and immigration policy change. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Demography Farmers Men Occupational Health Race Factors Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Staff Development Women

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural-workers Author Keywords: Farm Worker Demographic-characteristics Exposure-levels Hazards Humans Immigrant Injuries Occupational Health And Safety Racial-factors Risk-factors Safety-education Sociological-factors Training Workers Compensation

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  227-235
• Volume:
  59
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046948
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2016 Mar; 59(3):227-235
• Contact Point Address:
  Amy K. Liebman, MA, MPA, Director of Environmental and Occupational Health, Migrant Clinicians Network, 100 W. Main Street, Suite 206, Salisbury, MD 21801
• Email:
  aliebman@migrantclinician.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:149ff9e8c6bdd345e30088014c56e3407201c30b1c31871483516ee4370f49fdcbf5eb6e76052f50672bcf8884464be0538d6a7e210be0d76b2ae22e6e1026d2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202202/cdc_202202_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 107.23 KB ]