The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety

Details

• Personal Author:
  Pinkerton KE
• Description:
  The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS), based at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program dedicated to the understanding and prevention of illness and injury in western agriculture. Our overall goal is to improve the health and safety of farmers, farmworkers, and their families and communities, with special consideration to those issues unique to western agriculture. We aim to be a leader in this field by partnering with diverse stakeholders, conducting innovative multidisciplinary research, providing education that links into established health education networks, and demonstrating effective outreach and translation of all center activities. The scientific and technical competency of the WCAHS faculty enables innovative goals, in large measure in field-oriented research projects, as well as in interventions, education, and evaluation to further agricultural worker health and safety. To achieve these goals, we have assembled a team of scientists from five schools and colleges (School of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Engineering, and College of Letters and Sciences), and over 10 academic departments. Some of the key themes and strengths of our center, which span across several projects and programs, include multilingual health and safety efforts among immigrant farmworkers, respiratory disease from exposures in western dry farming environments, and engineering better ergonomic solutions to reduce acute and cumulative trauma injuries in agriculture. The center's main area of responsibility includes Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada. California agriculture, measured by sales, is larger than any other state, and when combined with the other three states, the region presents agricultural practices and a workforce population different in many ways from those found in the rest of the country but serves as a model for other states. WCAHS is unique among the NIOSH-funded agricultural centers, located at an internationally renowned research university, which houses both a School of Medicine and a School of Veterinary Medicine, and is a land grant university. The center has developed strong collaborative ties with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and the College of Engineering at UC Davis, in addition to many state agencies, stakeholders, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) throughout the west. The UC Davis CAES is ranked number one in the world. The California state capitol, Sacramento-12 miles from Davis- is home to the state's Departments of Public Health and Health Care Services, Food and Agriculture, and Environmental Protection, as well as the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (home of our Evaluation Program) and the UC Davis Health System. This large, diverse, multidisciplinary expertise provides a wealth of resources and experience to the center, as well as access to one of the most occupationally and ethnically diverse agricultural populations and communities in the field. A major goal of the center has been the application of research findings into practical and effective field solutions. This goal has been achieved by numerous routes including "technology transfer" for engineering solutions developed with WCAHS support, communication of research findings to the diverse agricultural community via multiple routes, and collaborative efforts with the state legislature, state agencies, cooperative extensions, and various stakeholders. We have also advocated for policy changes based on findings from our work and the work of others. Our efforts to improve the health of hired immigrant farmworkers, largely Hispanic, have been a major effort of center investigators. Outcomes: WCAHS has had a productive and effective six years of accomplishments with multiple center-wide initiatives as well as the funding of numerous programs supported through the Emerging Issues, Pilot, Outreach, and Rapid Response Programs. Highly successful programs in heat Illness, wildfire guidelines, and sexual harassment training were initiated during this period of time. WCAHS significantly expanded its communication efforts, utilizing a variety of styles and media to convey our activities and translate research findings. With institutional support from UC Davis, we funded graduate student researchers to advance their research related to agricultural health and safety. WCAHS devoted considerable effort to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. WCAHS leadership contributed to a CDC working group to develop guidance for the agricultural industry, served on expert panels, and conducted trainings for farmers, agricultural employers, and farmworker-serving community organizations. WCAHS developed the first COVID-19 workplace prevention checklist and training guide for agriculture in the west. WCAHS resources have been widely distributed throughout the western region and have been adopted nationwide for clear and culturally tailored communication to Spanish-speaking farmworkers. Based on the success of WCAHS efforts supporting the agricultural industry and addressing COVID-19 hazard assessment, the State of California contracted with WCAHS to continue this work, which dramatically expanded the reach of WCAHS/NIOSH-funded work. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Communicable Diseases Emigration And Immigration Farmers Health Promotion Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Centers Agricultural Safety COVID-19 Farm Workers Health Promotion Immigrant Workers Information Dissemination R2p Research To Practice Initiative
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Final Cooperative Agreement Report
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-140
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070879
• 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, U54-OH-007550, 2023 Feb; :1-140
• Email:
  kepinkerton@ucdavis.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:96c1704906bc03495e15901e59c0664591ca387aeb7de66a7bb51b4741bd4d645edd77a31280664a1ee0b3feb0bd9355c29d1f2cbad260408a6fffa7331ca220
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219293/cdc_219293_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.25 MB ]