Improving the Health, Safety, and Productivity of Women Vegetable Farmers in the Gambia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Vanderwal LS
• Description:
  Vegetable farming is an important, yet laborious occupation worldwide, often engaging vulnerable populations such as migrant workers in the USA and women in developing countries such as The Gambia (West Africa). Few interventions have been developed, or rigorously tested, to reduce the drudgery, pain and injury-risk inherent in this work. This mixed-methods research evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of locally-available interventions, selected in a participatory manner, to improve the safety and work efficiency of three tasks of women vegetable farmers in The Gambia. Evaluations of interventions for two tasks are presented in this manuscript. Qualitative methods, including focus groups, subject observation, and individual interviews were utilized to select interventions evaluated in this research. Subjects (n=48) then engaged in timed trials, alternating between using traditional and intervention methods to accomplish a specified task. Heart rates were measured and subjects reported their discomfort and safety after each trial. Two months later, individual interviews were conducted on subject perception of interventions. Focus group discussions were held one and three months after initial trials. This research demonstrated that interventions selected in a participatory manner can accomplish the following: (a) increase worker productivity (long-handled hoe for land preparation); (b) decrease work-related musculoskeletal discomfort and injury risk indicators (long-handled hoe; pump for water lifting); and (c) present indicators of long-term acceptance and increased use among subjects after initial trials [land preparation hoe interventions (94% of subjects preferred after 2 two months), particularly the short-handled hoe; water pump (77% preferred after two months)]. The qualitative findings identified barriers and enabling factors to long-term sustainability of the interventions. This research demonstrated the importance of comprehensively evaluating interventions for productivity, comfort, safety, and worker acceptability as results may differ in each. For example, in both tasks evaluated, the method which resulted in higher productivity was less preferred by most subjects. Information from this body of research can help identify and improve current interventions which could be implemented in other settings, help develop related future interventions, and be applied as a methodological model in future studies to improve hand-labor intensive agriculture worldwide. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Workers Farm Workers Intervention Effectiveness MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Occupational Safety
• ISBN:
  9781109457520
• Publisher:
  ProQuest LLC.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Thesis
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056866
• Citation:
  Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC., 2009 Jul; :3383176
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Improving the health, safety, and productivity of women vegetable farmers in the Gambia
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8b350acfbf360ab15cfc3218cf9cd35945b10f40f50e9069590c356d63fd648cfc879eacf4cac5e710118c5c1c088498917534299c8ed8296fe15f19ba1db74c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214364/cdc_214364_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.94 MB ]