Dairy Tool Box Talks: A Comprehensive Worker Training in Dairy Farming

Details

• Personal Author:
  Carroll H ; Erickson T ; Foos R ; Garcia A ; Rovai M
• Description:
  Today's dairies are growing rapidly, with increasing dependence on Latino immigrant workers. This requires new educational strategies for improving milk quality and introduction to state-of-the-art dairy farming practices. It also creates knowledge gaps pertaining to the health of animals and workers, mainly due to the lack of time and language barriers. Owners, managers, and herdsmen assign training duties to more experienced employees, which may not promote "best practices" and may perpetuate bad habits. A comprehensive and periodic training program administered by qualified personnel is currently needed and will enhance the sustainability of the dairy industry. Strategic management and employee satisfaction will be achieved through proper training in the employee's language, typically Spanish. The training needs to address not only current industry standards but also social and cultural differences. An innovative training course was developed following the same structure used by the engineering and construction industries, giving farm workers basic understanding of animal care and handling, cow comfort, and personal safety. The "Dairy Tool Box Talks" program was conducted over a 10-week period with nine sessions according to farm's various employee work shifts. Bulk milk bacterial counts and somatic cell counts were used to evaluate milk quality on the three dairy farms participating in the program. "Dairy Tool Box Talks" resulted in a general sense of employee satisfaction, significant learning outcomes, and enthusiasm about the topics covered. We conclude this article by highlighting the importance of educational programs aimed at improving overall cross-cultural training. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Dairy Products Emigration And Immigration Livestock Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Animal Husbandry Workers Author Keywords: Dairy Farm Trainings Dairy Products Dairy Sustainability Educational Training Immigrant Workers Information Dissemination Language Barrier Latino Worker Livestock Industry Migrant Worker Milk Quality Safety Education Spanish Training Tool Box Talks Training Research

  More +
• ISSN:
  2296-2565
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8 ; South Dakota
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068510
• Citation:
  Front Public Health 2016 Jul; 4:136
• Contact Point Address:
  Maristela Rovai, Dairy Science Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA
• Email:
  maristela.rovai@sdstate.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado State University - Ft. Collins
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20030915
• Source Full Name:
  Frontiers in Public Health
• End Date:
  20270914
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ac41f10f5882a14acdcc49c5907f75319caf530fd18a423def5404bd888277b6754ca191f74a393679ee19e5e882ab3912012df68ce84bc0841634090fd14d91
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207126/cdc_207126_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 140.08 KB ]