New and Emerging Research in Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishing Safety and Health - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 180

Joint management-worker safety committees may be construed as an unfair
labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), especially if the
worker members of a safety committee are selected in a company-wide secret
ballot. However, hired agricultural workers, as previously described, are exempt
from NLRA jurisdiction, so this would be of concern only to forestry and fishing
firms. Moreover, the opinion of a knowledgeable labor attorney, provided on an
informal basis and not constituting either legal advice or a legal opinion, indicates
that such an election would not normally be considered an unfair labor practice
under the NLRA (Joel Levinson, personal communication, May 11, 2007). It would
be important to explore this concern further among both management and labor
attorneys.
CONCLUSION
An essential and challenging aspect of NIOSH's stated mission “to provide na-
tional and world leadership to prevent work-related illnesses and injuries” includes
the identification of emerging issues and new concerns for worker populations in
agriculture, forestry, and fishing. The AFF Program should be at the forefront of
efforts to review and define needs in agriculture, forestry, and fishing and should
promote opportunities to pursue innovative ways of responding to these needs.
The committee notes that the AFF Program has struggled in carrying out that task,
and it has provided suggestions for approaching and undertaking such activities.
However, the committee concedes that the task is important and warrants more
extensive expert input and evaluation than the committee could provide in the
context of its review. It hopes that the AFF Program will continue to engage its
stakeholders and its advisory council for feedback and guidance.