Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• Land application of sludge
• Managing safety in on-farm valued-added processing operations
• Power-transmission lines and communication towers (electric and mag-
netic fields and radiofrequency)
•
Remotely controlled tractors and machinery
•
Site-specific management
•
Using global positioning systems to monitor worker activities
•
Zoonotic-disease outbreaks
Assessment of the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Research
Program's Effectiveness in Targeting New Research
Given the trends in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, the worksites of tomorrow
clearly will be different from the worksites of today. The changes, both predicted
and unpredicted, will fuel the need for surveillance of such human factors as
worksite organization and management; climate, technology, and policy change
and of economics. On the basis of information provided by NIOSH, the committee
concludes that the AFF Program has not developed a consistent process for iden-
tifying new research issues and developing a way to address emerging issues. The
success of a public health research program is marked by its ability to recognize
and address the needs of a targeted population. Because the AFF Program on the
whole has struggled to conduct surveillance to understand the current needs of its
worker populations, it is unable to forecast future needs.
In light of the fact that the program lacks an established procedure for assess-
ing emerging issues in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, the committee further
concludes that the AFF Program has fallen behind in understanding current prac-
tices and how these practices can create new hazards for workers. The program
has instead focused resources on issues that have already been partly resolved by
changes in work practices and environments. Thus, the AFF Program has not kept
up with emerging issues and has lost the capability to gain useful knowledge and
to respond with appropriate new technologies.
A few projects, however, have more successfully identified emerging issues
and conducted research to address them. The fishing projects in Alaska and the
farm-resident child-injury initiatives, for example, have consistently carried out
sound research practices to affect fishermen and children, respectively, and have
been able to identify new and emerging issues for these populations. Key factors
in their success include the continuity of funding and staff. Long-term funding
(3-5 years) enables researchers to carry out adequate surveillance, research, and
outreach and to identify relevant issues on the horizon. Training and retention of
key staff members are also vital for the successful execution of research from project
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