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UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at Davis

On-Line News

Issue Number 1995-02
May 1995

Published by the UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at Davis, University of California, Davis, Marc Schenker, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Marti Childs, Editor

 

1995-02-01 Table of Contents

1995-02-02 Welcome and Introduction

1995-02-03 Highlights of Second NIOSH Conference

1995-02-04 Highlights of AgSafe Conference

1995-02-05 Center's Industrial Hygienist Wins Award

1995-02-06 Student Profile--Amy Kyle

1995-02-07 NIOSH Ag Centers' News Available on the Internet

1995-02-08 Pesticide Resources Available

1995-02-09 Ag News Clips on File

1995-02-10 Ag Center Publications on File

On-Line News is a synopsis of news items covered by the Center's quarterly newsletter along with additional information including news clippings and Center publications related to agricultural health and safety issues. The Center has two electronic list servers that allow automatic forwarding of e-mail to a list of subscribers. One server is a forum for announcements and discussion of agricultural health and safety issues and the other is a vehicle for the automatic distribution of mini-newsletters.

The e-mail addresses for the forum is: aghealth@oem.ucdavis.edu (message forwarding address) and aghealth-request@oem.ucdavis.edu (subscriber request address). The addresses for the mini newsletter are: aghealthnews@oem.ucdavis.edu (message forwarding address) and aghealthnews-request@oem.ucdavis.edu (subscriber request address).

To subscribe to a list, send an e-mail message to the request address with no subject and a one line message giving the option subscribe and your name. For example, to subscribe to the forum for announcements and general agricultural health and safety issues, you would send the following:
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Ninety or so participants attending the conference from throughout the United States got a good grasp of what is going on, and who is doing what at each of the regional agricultural health and safety centers. The conference included 23 breakout sessions and 21 posters.

The variety of NIOSH centers programs was evident in the winners of the poster contest. Winners included,

In addition, UC Davis Center investigators Bruce Leistikow, Ketty Mobed and James Beaumont presented posters. Leistikow's poster showed examples of his Continuing Medical Education (CME): Self Instructional Case Studies in Agricultural Medicine. Mobed's poster titled Reproductive Health of Female Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers illustrated her ongoing research with colleague Ellen Gold. Helen Romain and James Beaumont presented a poster of their work Injuries Among Agricultural Workers in the California Occupational Mortality Study.

The numerous breakout sessions offered each day included UC Davis Center investigators as well. On Monday, Barry Wilson presented a 20-minute talk on "Reliability of Blood Cholinesterase Measurements for Monitoring Pesticide Exposures; and on Tuesday, Don Villarejo discussed his work with "Farm Labor Contractors and Occupational Safety in the Fields."

Keynote speaker Greg Wagner, director of respiratory disease studies at NIOSH, noted that NIOSH has funded "a tremendous diversity of programs over our first five years," a period he characterized as "our experimental phase." He continued, "Over the next five years, we need to evolve to a more focused, coherent and structured effort,"

According to Wagner, an impartial panel that reviewed NIOSH's agricultural health and safety programs was "extremely positive." He said that "NIOSH continues to be committed to improving public safety in agriculture, allocating 15-20 percent of its resources."

NIOSH will be announcing plans to fund one new center in 1995 and perhaps another in 1996. NIOSH will also establish a strategic planning group that will interact with others in agriculture, perhaps through a "Partners in Agriculture" meeting. The purpose of the meeting would be to "figure out where we think agriculture is going and where NIOSH can have the greatest impact on safety in agriculture."

Wagner suggested that the Centers engage in strategic planning. "The Centers should focus more on achievements and on things that will make a difference. This involves thinking through your model for prevention and making sure that your work relates to your prevention scheme," he said.

Four group discussions followed the breakout sessions. Participants shared thoughts on what should be the priorities for the Centers and how to promote collaboration between the Centers and NIOSH.

Guest speaker for the banquet was Richard D. Lamm, former three-term governor of Colorado and currently director at the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues at the University of Denver. Lamm pointed out the complex realities of the health care issue and said he no longer equates health care with health. He suggested it might be more appropriate for those at the conference to think in terms of "how do we grow health" rather than how to provide health care. He believes that a new approach is needed, in part, because the longer a generation lives, the higher the health care costs.

"We've added what amounts to three months per year to the average age of people in developed countries," he said. As a result, health care costs have risen to a level where they are "crowding out other important things. We do know that people who have control over their lives are healthier. So, perhaps the way we grow health is by helping people have more control over their lives by doing things like creating more jobs for people." He said he favored this approach over developing new technology. "We've already invented more health care than we can afford to deliver to everyone."

In his closing plenary, Project Director Steve Olenchock said NIOSH created the agricultural health and safety centers to encourage farm owners and workers to improve their way of working, which, in turn, may improve their lives. "Prevention is what we do, and we hope at NIOSH that our actions are there to move others to prevention," he said.

Proceedings of the conference, to be published early this fall, will be available through Vicky Buchan at HI-CAHS in Fort Collins, CO., (303) 491-5211

Funded in part by the UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center's NIOSH cooperative agreement No. U07/CCU906162, the conference provided an opportunity for discussion of issues of common concern, including interpretation of current safety regulations by representatives from Cal/OSHA and the EPA. The conference was held Monday and Tuesday, March 27-28, 1995, at the Sheraton Hotel in Rancho Cordova, CA.

Monday's session was moderated by Pene Wilson, director of Rural Health and Safety, California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF). Panel members Dona Mast, a farm owner, registered nurse and chair of CFBF Rural Health and Safety; Richard Bruce, a safety trainer; William Krycia, Cal/OSHA Region II manager; and David Bare, area manager of Cal/OSHA Consultation, discussed California and federal safety regulations.

Richard Bruce, who is responsible for safety at 30 ranches in California said, "A lot of the serious injuries happen to people who have been doing the work for a long time. They sometimes get lazy and make mistakes."

Some safety tips Bruce conveys to his clients include:

Bill Krycia gave an overview of the employer's responsibility with respect to accident prevention programs enforced by Cal/OSHA. He reviewed the procedures Cal/OSHA follows when conducting an unannounced compliance check.

The first session on Tuesday, "How to Conduct an Ergonomic Job Analysis in Agriculture," was moderated by Davis Center investigator James Meyers. Keynote speaker Larry Chapman, an ergonomics specialist at the University of Wisconsin, gave a very animated lecture and slide presentation. He listed the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome-hand pain, numbness, sleep disturbance, weakness and clumsiness-and stated that "treatment after the fact is often too late." Chapman stressed, "it's always best to catch a potential problem before it becomes a serious problem," and briefly discussed a NIOSH-funded study of cumulative trauma disorders being conducted at the University of Wisconsin.

UC Davis Center investigator and ergonomics specialist John Miles narrated a videotape of workers picking oranges and field workers picking lettuce. The audience identified several potential problems associated with the actions seen in the tape.

"Ask the workers what they would do to solve the problem," said Miles, who believes practical solutions are all too often overlooked. "We've presented problems such as these to fourth-grade classes, and the kids have come up with some very innovative solutions."

In closing, Miles said, "There are a lot of social issues related to ergonomics. The study of ergonomics combines the disciplines of psychology, engineering and medicine, and there's a lot more work to be done."

Conference participants had the option of attending an all-day certificated workshop on ergonomics, moderated by Center investigator Jim Meyers, or attending an EPA Worker Protection Standard session, moderated by Center investigator Pat Marer, with speakers Chuck Andrews of the California EPA, and Kay Rudolph of the federal EPA.

The lunch break included a talk on Total Quality Management and Safety presented by Aerojet's Larry Cox, TQM manager, and Michael Cook, a union representative on the TQM team. They described the successful program developed by Aerojet that significantly reduced the number of injury claims reported by the company.

After lunch, while the ergonomics workshop reconvened, several open sessions were presented, including

"The conference was a success," said Donald Bennett, director of AgSafe. "An overwhelming majority of the participants said they would like to see a similar conference the same time next year, and that the Sacramento area was an appropriate location for it."

According to Bennett, AgSafe membership is currently reserved only for agricultural organizations and educational institutions. In a follow-up survey, conference participants agreed that the AgSafe Coalition should be open to individuals, corporations and professional development organizations to provide a more diverse pool of expertise, and to become more financially self-supporting.

"What we set out to do is to look at the data that is collected by the state of California in the Pesticide Illness Reporting System to see whether that could be used to determine the causes of pesticide illness cases that are reported to them," said Amy Kyle, Center investigator and a third-year Ph. D. student at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Amy is working with a team on a project that focuses not on which individual pesticides are associated with illnesses, but what kinds of practices, events or other factors contribute to these illnesses.

"It's an interesting project, partly because these kinds of data aren't available in many other places-California probably has the best surveillance system in terms of having a lot of cases to look at with very comprehensive data."

Originally from Silver Spring, Maryland, Amy completed her bachelor's degree in 1977 at Harvard University, majoring in physical sciences/oceanography. She worked in government and environmental protection for several years for the state of Alaska before deciding to pursue her Ph.D. in environmental health policy.

In Alaska, Amy focused on resource policy issues for the Alaska governor's office, working on the mitigation of environmental policy effects of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas leasing, as well as environmental issues associated with wetlands development.

After working for several years with the state's Coastal Management program, Amy was named its executive director, and later served for five years as deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

"I was in a very front-line, very political environment and a very policy-oriented job," said Amy. "After five years we had achieved most of the goals we had set out to accomplish, and I decided it was time for a different kind of environment." From there, she decided to join the academic world for awhile to see what it was like and to pick-up some current training on health issues.

"I may go back into public service or I might take a look at interdisciplinary academic work," said Amy. "I see a real role for academic work on environmental policy, especially environmental health policy, so I'm interested in exploring that but I haven't really made a decision about which of those routes I want to go."

The information is coordinated and disseminated through the Davis Center, and includes information on each center, various research projects, calendar items and other information pertaining to agricultural health and safety.

The Universal Resource Locator (URL) address for accessing the NIOSH Ag Centers "home page" and national newsletter from a program such as Netscape or Mosaic is: http://www-oem.ucdavis.edu/www/niosh/niosh.html

This NIOSH Ag Centers "home page" also includes links to other useful information, such as the Davis Center's "home page," the Centers for Disease Control "home page," and others as they become available.

In addition, you can subscribe to an electronic mail list and automatically receive the newsletter when it is published. To subscribe send an e-mail message to NIOSHagnews-request@oem.ucdavis.edu with no subject and a one-line message giving the request option "subscribe" and your name. An example using Eudora would appear as follows:

To: NIOSHagnews-request@oem.ucdavis.edu
From: Childs@oem.ucdavis.edu (Marti Childs)
Subject:
Cc:
Bcc:
Attachments:
***********************************
subscribe Marti Childs
By return e-mail you will receive confirmation of your request and more information about using the list server request function. To "unsubscribe" you would follow the same procedure, replacing subscribe with "unsubscribe."

Similar programs offered during 1994 provided resources, technical information and teaching methods to more than 1,100 English- and Spanish-speaking instructors who are responsible for training more than 415,000 fieldworkers and pesticide handlers in California. This program, coordinated by Center investigatory Patrick Marer, is part of a Center-funded study to find effective ways of conveying agricultural health and safety information to workers.

These programs are designed to prepare people to provide training for pesticide handlers of agricultural fieldworkers to comply with California's pesticide handler training requirements and those set forth for agricultural fieldworkers by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Worker Protection Standard. Marer is investigating ways to evaluate the impact of the Worker Protection Standard and worker training programs on agricultural workers and pesticide handlers.

For a training schedule or information about the 8-hour program for trainers of pesticide handlers and fieldworkers or the 4-hour program for trainers of fieldworkers, contact the IPM Education and Publications office at UC Davis at (916) 752-7691.

A new forest and right-of-way study guide
Volume four of the pesticide application compendium Forest and Right-of-Way Pest Control is now available from the University of California ANR (Agriculture and Natural Resources) Publications office in Oakland, is (800) 994-8849, or through county UC Cooperative Extension offices. This new book (publication number 3336) is a recommended study guide for the Forest and Right-of-Way categories of the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Qualified Applicator Certificate and Qualified Applicator License examinations.

The book was co-written by Center investigator Patrick Marer, Mark Grimes, a writer for the UC Integrated Pest Management Project's Pesticide Education Program and Richard Cromwell, an agricultural engineer from the University of Florida in Gainesville. It contains more than 200 photographs, drawings and information on right-of-way and forest pesticide use drawn from more than 150 experts throughout California and the United States. The book, which emphasizes ways to reduce pesticide impact on people and the environment, is a valuable resource for anyone managing pests in the forest or along California's thousands of miles of rights-of-way.

Information booklet on cholinesterase testing
California law requires that agricultural employees who handle organophosphate or N-methyl carbamate pesticides for more than six days in any 30-day period receive regular monitoring of their blood and plasma cholinesterase levels. This procedure provides early detection of pesticide exposure so an employer can remove an employee from a potentially hazardous situation before any injury occurs. The procedure requires an initial blood test to establish the handler's baseline, then periodic tests, usually on a monthly basis, during times when the handler is using cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides. Being required to go to a clinic to have blood samples drawn is often a frightening experience, especially for Hispanic workers who are unfamiliar with the reasons for cholinesterase monitoring.

The Pesticide Education Program of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Project has developed a booklet that explains the cholinesterase testing process to pesticide handlers. This has been a collaborative project between Center affiliate Melanie Zavala and Center Investigator Barry Wilson. It is based on the video produced by Zavala that was released in late 1994. The publication is a Fotonovela (a story using photographs of actors portraying events) written in both English and Spanish. The booklet (publication number 21507) is available through the University of California ANR Publications office in Oakland, (800) 994-8849, or through local UC Cooperative Extension offices.

Video on long-term health effects of pesticides
A new video, aimed at agricultural workers, describes some of the suspected and established long-term health effects associated with exposure to certain pesticides. Long-Term Health Effects of Pesticide Exposure, focuses on the importance of using appropriate safety measures and personal protective equipment when working with pesticides. Partial funding for this project was provided to Center investigator Patrick Marer by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Center affiliate Melanie Zavala produced the video. The video (catalog number V/94-0) can be ordered from the UC Cooperative Extension Visual Media Office on the UC Davis Campus, (916) 757-8980.

EPA-approved videos for outdoor nursery workers A set of Worker Protection Standard pesticide safety videos, approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is available for training workers and pesticide handlers employed in outdoor nurseries. These videos were produced by Center affiliate Melanie Zavala from the Pesticide Education Program of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Project. Funding for the videos was provided to Patrick Marer by the Seattle-based Region 10 office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The set includes English and Spanish versions of two separate videos. Part I is intended for workers and handlers; Part II is aimed specifically at pesticide handlers. The four videos are available separately, but both Part I and Part II should be used when training pesticide handlers. These videos can be ordered from the UC Cooperative Extension Visual Media Office on the UC Davis campus, (916) 757-8980. Catalog numbers: Part I (English-V/95-A; Part I (Spanish)-V/95-B; Part II (English)-V/95-C; and Part II (Spanish)-V/95-D.

Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, CA, March 26, 1995 California Rural Legal Assistance has engaged in litigation against big growers, county governments and California governors in defense of farm workers since 1966. "Its demise would bring delight to California's agricultural industry and horror to CRLA officials ho say America is retreating in its commitment to social justice."

Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, CA, March 26, 1995 "Legal assistance for the poor faces budget ax. California Rural Legal Assistance has sued the government and farmers in an effort to improve living and working conditions for farm workers."

California Agriculture, reports of research and reviews from the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California.

Rural Outreach Program, an occasional newsletter produced by the Easter Seal Societies of Central California and the Monterey Bay Region to apprise supporters, contributors and interested parties of the progress of the Rural Outreach Project.

UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Request for Proposals, three documents describing grants available in sustainable agriculture. PROPOSALS DUE AUGUST 1, 1995.

Prevention of Injury in Children of Migrant and Seasonal Farm Laborers: A Resource List, a resource list compiled by the Children's Safety Network, Rural Injury Prevention Resource Center, National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield, Wisc.

Preventing Rural Childhood Injuries, a color brochure produced by Purdue University's Agricultural Engineering Department and supported by the Indiana State Department of Health.

Rural Health Brief, a brief produced by the New York Rural Health Research Center, State University of New York at Buffalo.

New York Rural Health Courier, a quarterly newsletter of the New York Rural Health Research Center, State University of New York at Buffalo.

Rural Health News, a newsletter produced by the Hawai'i Office of Rural Health, Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development, Hawai'i State Department of Health.

Rural Health News, a quarterly newsletter from the WAMI Rural Health Research Center, Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle.

State Rural Health Watch, a quarterly newsletter produced by UND Center for Rural Health, University of North Dakota School of Medicine, reporting on rural health clinics throughout the United States.

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