A Global Perspective on Modern Dairy: Occupational Health and Safety Challenges and Opportunities

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Colorado State University. High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety. International Dairy Research Consortium
• Description:
  This journal issue focuses on the many health and safety outcomes associated with dairy work, including changes resulting from new technologies associated with modern, larger dairies. However, there is another more dramatic change that has occurred in the dairy industry and that has an even more profound impact on the ultimate goal of improving the health and safety of dairy workers. That change is the transition to an immigrant workforce, a transformation that has occurred over the past 10 to 15 years. In the United States, this has largely been a transition to immigrant Latino workers, whereas elsewhere in the world other immigrant ethnic groups represent this transition. For example, growth in the large New Zealand dairy industry has been largely sustained by increasing the migrant workforce, half of whom come from the Phillipines. Immigrant labor is becoming an increasingly important part of agriculture and animal husbandry in the European Union, particularly since the 2005 EU enlargement. Over 40% of agricultural workers in Italy are from outside the European Union, with the remainder coming from EU countries. In some regions of Italy, the majority of cow milkers come from India. Similarly across the EU countries, unique immigration patterns exist for each country, but all the countries have the similar reality that an increasing percentage of agricultural workers, including dairy workers, are immigrant. The magnitude of this transition to an immigrant workforce in the global dairy industry is documented in the paper in this volume, "A Review of Health and Safety Leadership and Managerial Practices on Modern Dairy Farms." But even this paper by Hagevoort, Douphrate, and Reynolds, though recognizing that immigrant workers face challenges of low education levels, illiteracy, and culture and language barriers, does not address some of the core issues nor provide serious discussion of tools to improve their health and safety. It is critical that efforts to improve health and safety in dairies address the unique health needs, and social, cultural, and legal realities of immigrant workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Dairy Products Emigration And Immigration Farmers Healthcare Disparities Livestock Mortality Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Workers Animal Handlers Animal Husbandry Workers Cattle Dairy Products Fatalities Health Disparities Immigrant Workers Injuries Language Barrier Livestock Industry Migrant Workers Risk Assessment Risk Management Safety Practices Sociological Factors Surveillance Programs

  More +
• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Iowa ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  179-283
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052144
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 2013 Jul; 18(3):179-283
• Contact Point Address:
  HICAHS, 1681 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1681
• Email:
  hicahs@colostate.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado State University - Ft. Collins
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20030915
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  20270914
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e35472ee4532e47378dc39582f061eabf374bc54d9f44a5b386fc29df07014f1e07545cbe86509b7f9a3d47f499508986207c2437d1100cc818ef514d040b3ad
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211733/cdc_211733_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.26 MB ]