Barbara C. Lee

Incidence and Cost of Nonfatal Farm Youth Injury, United States, 2001–2006

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to estimate the annual incidence and cost of nonfatal farm youth injury in the United States for the period 2001–2006. The authors used 2001–2006 Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey data to estimate the annual incidence of farm youth nonfatal injury. To estimate the costs for injuries suffered by youth working/living on the farm, the number of injuries was multiplied by published unit costs by body part, nature of injury, and age group. The annual number of nonfatal injuries to youth (ages 0–19) on farms in 2001–2006 was 26,570. The annual cost of nonfatal farm youth injuries was

Developing the 2012 national action plan for protecting children in agriculture

1 billion (in 2005 dollars), with 26% of costs related to working on the farm and 47% on beef cattle farms. Around 9.3% of the cost was medical costs, 37.2% work and household productivity loss, and 53.5% quality of life loss.

Meeting the Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People Safely and Securely

ABSTRACT In 1996 the US launched a National Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative, guided by an action plan generated by a 42-member multidisciplinary committee. A major update to the plan was released following the 2001 Summit on Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention. From the year 2010 through 2011 a comprehensive assessment of progress to date was conducted followed by the drafting, review and finalizing of a new action plan—“The 2012 Blueprint for Protecting Children in Agriculture.” This paper briefly describes the purpose and process for generating the new action plan then provides a listing of the 7 goals and 26 strategies within the plan. These goals and strategies account for trends in childhood agricultural injuries, changes in agricultural production and the demographics of its workforce, effectiveness of interventions, and the increasing use of social media, marketing and social networking. Primary funding for this project was provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which continues to serve as the lead federal agency for the national initiative.

Guidelines for Children's Work in Agriculture: Implications for the Future

If our agriculture industry is going to feed the worlds 9 billion people, we should care enough to do it safely, humanely and sustainably. Current projections set the world population at nearly 9 ...

Developing a Model Policy on Youth Employment in Agriculture

ABSTRACT The North American Guidelines for Childrens Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) were developed to assist parents in assigning developmentally appropriate and safe farm work to their children aged 7–16 years. Since their release in 1999, a growing body of evidence has accumulated regarding the content and application of these guidelines to populations of working children on farms. The purpose of this paper is to review the scientific and programmatic evidence about the content, efficacy, application, and uptake of NAGCAT and propose key recommendations for the future. The methods for this review included a synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature and programmatic evidence gathered from safety professionals. From the review, it is clear that the NAGCAT tractor guidelines and the manual material handling guidelines need to be updated based upon the latest empirical evidence. While NAGCAT do have the potential to prevent serious injuries to working children in the correct age range (7–16 years), the highest incidence of farm related injuries and fatalities occur to children aged 1–6 years and NAGCAT are unlikely to have any direct effect on this leading injury problem. It is also clear that NAGCAT, as a voluntary educational strategy, is not sufficient by itself to protect children working on farms. Uptake of NAGCAT has been sporadic, despite being geographically widespread and has depended, almost solely, on a few interested and committed professionals. Key recommendations for the future are provided based upon this review.

Establishing a publicly available national database of US news articles reporting agriculture-related injuries and fatalities

ABSTRACT The goal of this project was to develop a model policy that agricultural employers could adopt specific to youth employment, including age-appropriate assignments, training needs for adolescent workers, ideal supervision, and mentoring by adult workers. Methods included discussions at a national conference of agricultural employers, a survey of employers’ perspectives on young workers, forming a task force to draft a model policy, and finalizing the policy document. The process resulted in a template that can be used by agricultural employers for immediate adoption, or to be customized and adapted for their unique company. Given new trends in agriculture to use certification systems, safety audits, and voluntary safety standards in addition to the regulatory process, there is value in having a voluntary “best practice” model policy that can be adopted in settings where safeguarding young farm workers is a priority.

Caring for Children While Working in Agriculture—The Perspectiveof Farmworker Parents

BACKGROUND The AgInjuryNews system and dataset are a news report repository and information source for agricultural safety professionals, policymakers, journalists, and law enforcement officials. METHODS AgInjuryNews was designed as a primary storage and retrieval system that allows users to: identify agricultural injury/fatality events; identify injury agents and emerging issues; provide safety messages for media in anticipation of trends; and raise awareness and knowledge of agricultural injuries and prevention strategies. Data are primarily collected through Google Alerts and a digital media subscription service. Articles are screened, reviewed, coded, and entered into the system. RESULTS As of January 1, 2018, the system contained 3028 unique incidents. Of those, 650 involved youth, and 1807 were fatalities. The system also had registered 329 users from 39 countries. CONCLUSIONS AgInjuryNews combines injury reports into one dataset and may be the most current and comprehensive publicly available collection of news reports on agricultural injuries and deaths.

Family Services for Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers: The Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA) Model

ABSTRACT Access to safe, off-farm childcare is often a challenge for farmworkers with young children and is likely to become an increasingly salient barrier as more agricultural workers migrate together with families and as the number of women entering the agricultural workforce increases. Agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries, and the presence of young children in the workplace puts them at risk. To better understand the current nature of childcare for farmworker families and the challenges to accessing services, this project facilitated in-person surveys with 132 parents in three communities in Florida. A convenience sample that intentionally targeted parents living and working in areas with limited access to Migrant and Seasonal Head Start facilities was used to recruit participants. Most participants reported childcare access as a challenge. They expressed a desire to work in an area based on childcare availability. These findings offer agribusiness leaders important data to consider. They also suggest that industry support of childcare may be an important workforce investment. Findings indicate that high quality, affordable off-farm childcare services could serve as a means for attracting farmworkers to regions currently experiencing labor shortages. Additional research is warranted to explore this subject in diverse geographic areas.

Employers’ Perspective on Childcare Services for Hired Farm Workers

ABSTRACT Agricultural employers and work supervisors strive to keep children out of worksites, but oftentimes migrating farm worker parents lack accessible or affordable options for childcare in a trusted environment. Thus, children may not have a safe, appropriate place to be while their parents are conducting agricultural work. Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA) of Florida is a community development organization that creates and fosters opportunities for the children of migrant and other low-income rural families. To better understand the RCMA system, an in-depth assessment of its program was undertaken to identify both its standard and unique features. Results revealed many attributes contributing to RCMA’s success. Based upon RCMA’s 48-year track record, employers, agribusinesses, and communities are encouraged to adopt strategies to meet local and regional childcare needs where parents are working in agriculture.

Leadership and funding: changes ahead for agricultural safety and health

ABSTRACT The goal of this project was to protect children while parents work in agriculture by improving off-farm services for children of migrant and seasonal farm workers. Large agricultural enterprises have policies forbidding children in the worksite. At the same time, their employees, who are trying to generate income, seek as many work hours as possible but often lack viable options for childcare services. As employers strive to increase their labor pool, and workers seek off-farm childcare, there is mutual interest in improving access to childcare services in agricultural regions dependent on large numbers of full-time and seasonal workers. This report describes the employers’ perspectives on childcare needs of hired farm workers’ families and their barriers and motivators to facilitating off-farm childcare services. Using descriptive survey research methodology, data were collected from a convenience sample of 102 agribusiness owners and Human Resource directors attending an agricultural conference regarding labor laws or personnel management. Results revealed significant differences for those companies employing more than 25 workers compared to their counterparts. Primary motivators for offering childcare as an employment benefit were improved employee morale, enhanced company reputation, and a more stable workforce. A major barrier was that half of large-scale enterprises lack guidance on how to provide childcare options for their workers. Survey results are being used to facilitate collaboration among employers, farm workers, and childcare providers to offer a safe, nurturing environment for children while their parents work in agriculture.