New and Emerging Research in Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishing Safety and Health - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 169

The WCIRB issued an analysis of all noncumulative workplace injuries and
illnesses over a 3-year period for which an indemnity payment was made. 1 The
analysis was multivariate and included independent variables, such as age of the
worker, lack of work authorization (in the case of immigrant workers), duration
of employment, and sex. The most significant finding was that only one factor was
statistically shown to be associated with a reduction in overall noncumulative in-
demnity paid claims: Cal/OSHA enforcement and education (WCIRB, 2002). That
finding suggests that the state's policy of enforcement and education has benefited
both employers and workers.
EMERGING RESEARCH AND ISSUES
IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMITTEE
The committee emerged from the review process with its own view of future
AFF worksite challenges and opportunities for injury and disease prevention and
promotion of healthy worker behavior. For NIOSH to continue safeguarding
workers in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, the AFF Program needs to consider
emerging research that the committee has identified as priority areas. The com-
mittee formulated these research issues and categorized them as high-, medium-,
and low-priority to reflect their potential magnitude in AFF work environments
while simultaneously recognizing the scarcity of NIOSH resources and the need to
conduct research in focused areas. It is understood that the AFF Program needs to
forge links with industry sectors capable of yielding key information and that these
cross-cutting issues require bold program management with streamlined proce-
dures and processes to aid cross-division research and interdisciplinary projects.
High-Priority Research
The committee identified several issues and research categories as having high-
priority: changes in the demographic characteristics of the workforce, changes in
the fishing industry, emerging forestry issues, blurring boundaries for food har-
vesting and food processing, food safety and food security, and the transformation
and industrialization of agriculture. The committee hopes that the AFF Program
will consider those crucial issues in the immediate future as it moves its research
agenda forward.
1 Indemnity payments are required for death or permanent disability, whether major or minor. In
the event of a temporary disability, an indemnity payment for lost wages is required if the worker is
hospitalized or is unable to work for more than 3 days.