Occupational health problems among migrant and seasonal farm workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gold EB ; Mobed K ; Schenker MB
• Description:
  Occupational health problems among migrant and seasonal farm workers in the United States were reviewed. Currently, the only national reporting system that tracked farm worker health data was the Migrant Student Record Transfer System maintained by the Office of Migrant Education of the United States Department of Education. This computerized database contained health records pertaining to children of farm workers, but no parallel collection of national health data on adult farm workers existed. The total population of these workers in the United States was estimated to be five million, of whom 20% lived or worked in California. Occupational health problems in this group included broken bones, sprains, cuts, and lacerations sustained from farm machinery, tree accidents, and falls. Of 287 migrant farm workers studied in North Carolina, 8.4% reported occupational injuries in a 3 year period. Pesticide related illnesses, common among farm workers, were insufficiently documented for the migrant group. A study from California in 1987 documented 372 cases of pesticide related illness among 1507 workers, but underreporting was possible. Musculoskeletal and soft tissue problems were reported from agricultural workers. Although no formal studies among migrant and seasonal workers had been carried out, two different surveys among farm workers reported symptoms among 21% and 27%, respectively. Reports of dermatitis and noninfectious respiratory illness were also considered. Reproductive health problems were not well studied among agricultural workers, even though workers were exposed to reproductive hazards. Health problems of the children of farm workers included malnutrition and difficulties associated with low socioeconomic status. The authors conclude that case/control and cross sectional studies should be carried out to assess the occupational health risks in this migrant group. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Epidemiology Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-statistics Agricultural-workers Injuries Musculoskeletal-system-disorders NIOSH-Cooperative-Agreement NIOSH-Publication Occupational-diseases Risk-analysis Traumatic-injuries
• ISSN:
  0093-0415
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  367-373
• Volume:
  157
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00211273
• Citation:
  West J Med 1992 Sep; 157(3):367-373
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19900930
• Source Full Name:
  Western Journal of Medicine
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5fcd504015681d3144b9cd725572d316c0ae5ed605d52978847cc64418593cd1eb272f10aca19f6178ad42fc7550593fa296ef81fd830a30c69a9435ecf26a68
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205251/cdc_205251_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.76 MB ]