Work Adaptations Insufficient to Address Growing Heat Risk for U.S. Agricultural Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Battisti DS ; Spector JT ; Tigchelaar M
• Description:
  The over one million agricultural workers in the United States (U.S.) are amongst the populations most vulnerable to the health impacts of extreme heat. Climate change will further increase this vulnerability. Here we estimate the magnitude and spatial patterns of the growing heat exposure and health risk faced by U.S. crop workers and assess the effect of workplace adaptations on mitigating that risk. We find that the average number of days spent working in unsafe conditions will double by mid-century, and, without mitigation, triple by the end of it. Increases in rest time and the availability of climate-controlled recovery areas can eliminate this risk but could affect farm productivity, farm worker earnings, and/or labor costs much more than alternative measures. Safeguarding the health and well-being of U.S. crop workers will therefore require systemic change beyond the worker and workplace level. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Climate Change Hot Temperature Occupational Health Safety Temperature
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Workers Author Keywords: Climate Vulnerability Climate Adaptation Climate Change Health Effects Heat Exposure Heat Extremes Hot Environments Occupational Health Outdoor Workers Temperature Effects

  More +
• ISSN:
  1748-9326
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  15
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20061381
• Citation:
  Environ Res Lett 2020 Sep; 15(9):094035
• Email:
  mtigch@stanford.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Research Letters
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3dccde7213e62f96a6ea78e9f87e160626107a46cc0913b7473af9db14c6cb89167805871c25e38d080be50f4b0f71ebd11a6bb21dcc0e9b58a2e52b886249c1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224922/cdc_224922_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 662.83 KB ]