What to know
Summary
Few jobs are as essential as the ones that help to produce the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and many other products which get us through the day. From our morning coffee to a midnight snack, we benefit from the labor of farmworkers. The U.S employed approximately 2.6 million farmworkers in 2022 and contributed over $203 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023. August 6 is Farmworker Appreciation Day, in which we acknowledge farmworkers' hard work and critical role in our nation's food system.
Farmworker safety and health
Farmworkers often work long hours outdoors and in extreme temperatures, doing physically demanding tasks to ensure farm stands, grocery stores, and restaurants are stocked with fresh produce year-round. This work can also be dangerous. Agriculture sector workers have fatality rates over six times higher than the average U.S. worker, and they are also at high risk for non-fatal injuries and illnesses. Farmworkers' tasks are often tied to seasonal activities such as planting and harvesting, which means their pay is not guaranteed or stable over time and may be impacted by factors outside of their control such as weather, the economy, or trade policy. Since most farmworkers live and work in rural areas, they also have less access to resources such as affordable healthcare and healthy foods.
For over 30 years, NIOSH's Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program has supported occupational safety and health research and outreach designed to protect the people who produce our nation's food and fiber. Recent work in this area has been through NIOSH's twelve Centers for Agricultural Safety and Health which are located across the nation to respond to the unique regional safety and health needs, but also collaborate on national initiatives and outreach campaigns. The newest Ag Center, the Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Wellbeing focuses specifically on the needs of farmworkers. NIOSH also funds the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risk-Pesticides (SENSOR-Pesticides) program which builds and maintains health department capacity to track acute occupational pesticide-related illnesses or injuries.
Two areas in which the NIOSH Ag Centers have recently been working with farmworker populations are on research and outreach to address heat stress and wildland fire smoke exposure. Here are a few highlights:
- In Washington State, a study found that concurrent high heat and poor air quality days during periods of wildfire smoke exposure were highest in counties with the largest agriculture populations.
- Interviews with farmworkers and agricultural employers in three regions of California found differing perceptions of risk and responsibility for workplace safety related to climate impacts and extreme weather events.
- Another study tested a low-cost air quality sampling platform before and during a wildfire smoke event to see if it could be a feasible solution for real-time air monitoring in rural agricultural areas.
- A study of 192 Florida agriculture workers found that 53% were dehydrated prior to their shift and 81% were dehydrated afterwards.
- Several materials for outreach and training have been created including the Heat Education & Awareness Tools (HEAT) #BeHeatSmart Campaign, a Wildfire Smoke Safety resource page, and Heat Illness Prevention training.
NIOSH Ag Centers currently have several ongoing research projects in the area of farmworker safety and health, and those findings will continue to be featured in future science blogs.