Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
occupational injury or illness. Injury and disease rates in occupational settings
would be computed to appropriately assess populations that are at higher or lower
risk of exposure. Rate computation requires knowledge of the number of people at
risk (the denominator). Assessing the number of AFF workers by race or ethnicity,
age, and gender requires use of information outside traditional occupational safety
and health data collection systems. Unlike nearly all other major industry sectors,
the AFF workforce is comprised of mostly self-employed and seasonally employed
workers. In addition, because of the reliance on natural resources for production,
there are millions of distinct AFF worksites: farms, forests, and fishing vessels on
open waters.
The ideal AFF Program would have thorough, accurate, and up-to-date knowl-
edge of the AFF workforce. The size, geographic distribution, seasonal variations
in employment, and demographic characteristics of the overall population and of
substantial groups would be identified with reasonable precision.
There are five types of workers to consider (some examples of each are
indicated):
• Self-employed workers (such as farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and
loggers).
• Unpaid family workers (such as spouses, adult children, and children under
18 years old).
• Direct-hire workers (such as farm laborers, fishing vessel crews, and lumber
company employees).
• Contract-hire workers (such as labor contractor employees, custom har-
vesters, and service company employees).
•
Workers employed by larger-scale businesses.
AFF workplaces are, by their relationship to natural resources, extensive as op-
posed to localized; therefore, other persons may be at risk owing to their residence
on or next to worksites. They may include children, spouses, or other kin of AFF
workers. Minors, whether they are unpaid family workers or hired workers, are of
special concern in the AFF workforce. Non-working minors who reside on a farm,
near crop fields, or adjacent to livestock facilities are also of concern as they may
face exposure to hazards normally associated with employment. The occupational
safety and health of minors working in agriculture is addressed in federal law and
in several state laws (see Appendix F). A few farm family health and hazard surveil-
lance studies have included women in the study populations, and reports have been
published on work-related injuries (Xiang et al., 1997; Stallones and Beseler, 2003).
Some studies have documented the extent of women's contribution to work in
agriculture and their risk of injuries (Engberg, 1993; Xiang et al., 1997; Reed et al.,
1999; McCoy et al., 2001; Stallones and Beseler, 2003; Stallones, 2004); however,
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