Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education (SW Ag Center) is one of 11 agricultural education, research and prevention centers funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The SW Ag Center recently completed its 4th cooperative agreement period (2011-2016) and entered its 5th funding cycle (2016-2021) with new research projects. SW Ag Center works with partners in industry, labor, trade associations, professional organizations, and academia. The Center is located in Tyler, Texas and serves five Southwestern states (Texas, Oklahoma, Nex Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana). This snapshot shows recent accomplishments and upcoming work. What are our priorities? Significant work has focused on these areas: 1. Preventing injuries and fatalities among commercial fishermen. 2. Characterizing and preventing injuries among forestry and logging workers. 3. Reducing pesticide exposure among farmworkers. What do we do? 1. We conduct regionally relevant, culturally appropriate, multi-disciplinary research. 2. We support feasibility studies that build capacity and justify further research. 3. We conduct a robust outreach program that responds to the ongoing and emerging needs of the region. 4. We engage a broad network of strategic partners to foster research integration and practical intervention strategies. 5. We develop and disseminate safety and health information and recommendations. 6. We utilize evaluation results to monitor progress and guide program improvements. What have we accomplished? 1. Research found that simple, culturally appropriate training and messaging favorably influence attitudes, beliefs and behavioral intent among commercial fishermen. 2. Research data revealed barriers to wearing personal floatation devices (PFD) onboard commercial fishing vessels. Multiple PFD models were tested by fishermen and 36 of the preferred PFD were purchased in 2016 for dissemination to the target community. 3. Developed 21 stakeholder-driven, safety and health tailgate trainings for logging and forestry workers. Trainings are used by crew leaders in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. 4. Performed a detailed search of data sources available to enumerate and characterize logging workers and specified the surveillance challenges in this sector. 5. Tested a sample of Latino adolescents working in agriculture for pesticide metabolites using urine samples. 80% had metabolites, indicating they had been exposed to pesticides. Sweat patches, a novel technique for measuring pesticide metabolites, were also found to be useful in a nested feasibility study. 6. Helped high school students in South Texas perform a play created by the Environmental Protection Agency to inform their community about pesticide safety. Approximately 200 people were reached. What's next? 1. Launch a social marketing campaign to motivate commercial fishermen to wear PFDs while onboard vessels to prevent death and injuries from falls overboard. 2. Conduct further research on the impact of thermal load on PFD use among fishermen. 3. Collect information on cultural/non-cultural work-related behaviors, attitudes and practices that influence slips, trips and falls onboard fishing vessels. 4. Conduct a pilot study to investigate work place risks and exposures among manual and machine tree planters. 5. Characterize physical exposures and musculoskeletal symptoms among logging machine operators. 6. Launch a 5 year project to reduce pesticide exposure among Latino adolescents through interventions that utilize promotoras, trusted community members who are trained as lay health workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Adolescent Agriculture Behavior Community Health Services Education Farmers Forestry Hazardous Substances Insecticides Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Race Factors Safety Staff Development

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• Keywords:
  Adolescents Agricultural Centers Agricultural Chemicals Agricultural Industry Attitude Community Based Community Health Falls Farm Workers Forestry Workers Health Hazards Information Dissemination Injuries Injury Prevention Intervention Intervention Effectiveness Language Barrier Logging Industry Logging Safety Logging Workers Materials Testing Medical Research MSD Musculoskeletal System Disorders Occupational Health Programs Occupational Safety Programs Partnership Personal Flotation Device Pesticides Pesticides And Agricultural Chemicals PFD Racial Factors Safety Research Social Marketing Surveillance Training Traumatic Injuries Worker Health Worker Safety

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• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB2017118
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Handouts/Flyers
• Place as Subject:
  Arkansas ; Georgia ; Louisiana ; New Mexico ; Oklahoma ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OPPE - Office of Program Planning and Evaluation ; OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049219
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2017-118, 2017 Jan; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Center at Tyler
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6b25337f18c73aa27a88871c96c8815717d7888a3a5ef5b5cd855d90ff6a79ba447c4666bc8f2c6756916aaa981a64588519802969ba012a026dd0cfe19e1c11
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210076/cdc_210076_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 156.26 KB ]