The goals of the Together for Agricultural Safety project are to design, implement, and evaluate a health intervention to reduce adverse health effects associated with workplace chemical exposure among nursery and fernery workers. To guide the intervention design, project team members completed a survey of approximately 380 Haitian and Mexican workers. Interview questions focused on issues related to exposure and protection. Responses indicated that workers feel they are exposed to pesticides through chemical residue on plants (21.9%), during re-entry into areas that have been sprayed (15.5%), and when they are working in wet conditions (10.8%). A majority reported that they always or most of the time wash their hands before they eat (82%) or go to the bathroom (59.3%), but 17.9% and 40.7%, respectively, reported that they "never" or only "sometimes" wash before these activities. When asked if they wash their hands before they leave their worksite, 89% reported that they did. When asked why they don't wash, many workers reported that the available water at the worksite was not clean (57%) or that it was too cold (16.9%). When asked what could be done to help workers protect themselves from pesticides, a large proportion of workers reported that the worksites needed to have more facilities and materials for washing, including soap and towels, or that facilities needed to be more accessible. These and other quantitative and qualitative data will be presented, along with a description of the intervention that was developed from these data.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Pesticide Exposure, Occupational Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.