Dissemination and Implementation of a Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Pesticide Safety Training Program with Indigenous Farmworkers

Background and Objective(s): This multi-disciplinary Project together with indigenous farmworkers identified pesticide exposure as one of the highest occupational health and safety issues. We developed and evaluated the effectiveness of culturally and linguistically matched training tools with the use of surveys, in-depth interviews and bio-monitoring. Having shown the effectiveness of our training tools, now in the dissemination phase, we are examining the effectiveness of a community-engagement, network-building approach to implementing an effective occupational health and safety program.  We will identify factors that influence the adoption and sustainability of the training tools in real life settings.

Methods: With surveys and in-depth interviews, we will assess the methods used to reach farmworkers and the differences between participating and non-participating organizations. We will also evaluate farmworkers’ satisfaction with the training and identify factors that led to rejection or implementation of the training curriculum.

Results: We expect changes in beliefs and behavior by farmworkers receiving the training including feeling more confident to report hazardous conditions at the workplace or to support a co-worker’s concerns. Additionally, we will identify factors that allow participating organizations to adopt and implement or reject the training tools.

Conclusion(s): Few studies focus on the occupational health and safety priorities of workers speaking indigenous languages and far fewer have attempted to have interventions designed with workers’ input adopted and integrated in agricultural communities beyond the research setting. If successful, our efforts will result in a sustainable program that will increase community capacity to improve the health and safety of vulnerable populations.