UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at Davis
On-Line News
Issue Number 1995-03
August 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
1995-03-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1995-03-01 Table of Contents
- 1995-03-02 Welcome and Introduction
- 1995-03-03 Ag Center Will Benefit From Organizational
Restructuring
- 1995-03-04 Source of Injury Mortality Studied
- 1995-03-05 Economics of Ag Injuries
- 1995-03-06 Bilingual Book on Cholinesterase
- 1995-03-07 Farm Safety For Children
- 1995-03-08 Farm Bureau Safety Programs
- 1995-03-09 Dutch Interns Ag Center First
1995-03-02 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at Davis
On-Line News.
On-Line News is a synopsis of news items covered by the Center's
quarterly newsletter along with additional information 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:
To: aghealth-request@oem.ucdavis.edu
Subject:
Message:
subscribe (your name here)
By return e-mail you will receive confirmation of your request and
more information about using the listserver request functions.
To subscribe to the On-line News, your request would look like:
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1995-03-03 AG CENTER WILL BENEFIT FROM ORGANIZATIONAL
RESTRUCTURING
By Marc Schenker, M.D., M.P.H.
An organizational change in the reporting structure of the Division
of Occupational/Environmental Health & Epidemiology has significantly
strengthened the resources and capabilities of the Agricultural Health
& Safety Center at Davis.
In July the Division in which the Ag Center operates, was moved
from the Department of Internal Medicine to the Department of Community
and International Health in the School of Medicine. This move was
coincident with my appointment as chair of Community and International
Health. It's quite exciting that the programs and activities of
the new department more closely relate to the goals and objectives
of the Ag Center.
The major focus of Community and International Health is recognition
and prevention of illness and injury through population-based approaches,
including epidemiologic research, education and outreach. Departmental
programs encompass occupational and environmental health, rural
health, cancer prevention, reproductive and women's health, the
health of aging populations, injury and violence prevention, and
health among minority populations.
The new department offers many new opportunities and resources
for the Center. First, the department brings together expertise
in outreach and community intervention, which will benefit the Center's
outreach efforts. Second, underdeveloped areas in the Center such
as industrial hygiene can be developed with the help of departmental
resources.
Third, some of the department's programs can be applied to problems
in the agricultural workplace. For example, the department's outreach
services for the aged can be applied to the elderly farming population
of California. Other existing programs in the department address
issues in rural health care delivery and injury prevention-two important
topics for agricultural health and safety.
Finally, a department focusing on injury and illness prevention
in the population is more likely to earn support from the university,
the Legislature and the public.
The administrative office of the UC Agricultural Health & Safety
Center at Davis, the industrial hygiene laboratory and many of the
research and outreach projects will remain in the Institute of Toxicology
and Environmental Health (ITEH) Building, which is south of campus
on Old Davis Road. This location is appropriate and convenient for
the Center because many of the Center's activities involve programs
and investigators affiliated with ITEH.
As I assume the position of chair of the Department of Community
and International Health, I look forward to advancing the awareness
of health hazards in agriculture, and applying the multidisciplinary
expertise of the department and the university. The Center has made
a major difference in cultivating awareness of these issues. We
have significantly contributed to improvements in the lives of California
farmers and farm workers, but we have a long way to go. I look forward
to continuing our efforts to promote safety and good health in the
agriculture community.
1995-03-04 SOURCE OF INJURY MORTALITY STUDIED
In the 1950s agricultural engineers and safety specialists reported
information that began to paint a very disturbing picture of the hazards
on farms contributing to work-related fatalities. Today those initial
concerns are reinforced by the limited epidemiologic data that are
available. Knowing the type of accident is one of the first steps
in generating useful injury data and in allowing for risk factor identification
and subsequent avoidance of risk activities. Center investigators
James J. Beaumont, Helen T. Romain and Lynne Morrin have completed
a study involving analysis of a database derived from the California
Occupational Mortality Study (COMS) from 1979 to 1981. The first COMS
report, which was published in 1987, included only two broad categories
of external cause of injury: "falls and machinery accidents" and "other
accidents."
Both studies examined occupational and industrial mortality in
California by using data reported from 180,000 California state
death certificates from 1979 to 1981 for male and female persons
aged 16 to 64. In addition, data was drawn from the United States
census estimates of the California population by occupation.
Center investigators looked at the data in much finer detail, noting
the type of injuries occurring in agriculture. They divided the
external causes of injury into 17 categories, which included only
those causes that could be related to agricultural work. They further
subdivided three of the new categories for greater specificity.
Using nonagricultural occupations for comparison, the investigators
calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for farm operators/managers,
farm workers, forestry/logging workers, groundskeepers/gardeners
and all agricultural occupations combined. Over a three-year period
there were 76 machinery deaths (SMR 10.21, p<0.05) in the agricultural
occupations. Thirty six (47 percent) of the machinery deaths were
associated with tractors, and 21 of those were due to overturn.
Machinery fatalities were found to be significantly high for farm
operator/managers, farm workers, and forestry/logging workers (SMRs
of 7.48, 12.95, and 21.29 respectively). SMRs for drowning were
significantly elevated for farm operators/managers, farm workers,
and forestry/logging workers (SMRs of 4.04, 4.10, and 10.19 respectively)
and for all agricultural occupations combined (SMR=3.68). However,
only 8 of the 57 drownings were work related. Farm workers additionally
had an elevated risk for injuries by animals (SMR=35.79). Center
investigators determined that the risk of machinery-related death
in California agricultural occupations is approximately 10 times
that for other occupations.
"Our study shows that the use of roll over protection systems (ROPS)
and seat belts on tractors would save approximately 10 lives each
year in California," said Beaumont, principal investigator of the
study. The study also confirmed that California shares the high
rate of agricultural machinery-related fatalities previously shown
in the Midwestern and Eastern sections of the United States.
"In addition, our study identified what may be a unique problem
for the agricultural work force in California-a high rate of drowning
associated with irrigation canals and aqueducts," said Beaumont.
Beaumont, Morrin, and Romain's study offers statistical evidence
of excess fatal injury hazard in California that will be useful
for employers, employees, policy makers, and health and safety professionals.
It documents a strong need for further improvement of health and
safety conditions in the agricultural work place in California.
1995-03-05 ECONOMICS OF AG INJURIES
The agricultural work environment is characterized by numerous potential
health hazards, including farm machinery, livestock, chemicals and
respirable dusts. Unintentional injuries represent one of the most
important occupational health problems among agricultural workers.
For California's Latino and Latina population, which provides the
majority of production labor in the industry, implications of these
characteristics are magnified. In spite of its importance, little
work focusing on patterns of violations for occupational health and
safety laws has been performed.
Center investigators Stephen A. McCurdy and Donald Villarejo received
a one-year, $28,000 grant from the California Policy Seminar to
examine patterns of violations of health and safety laws in California.
Their research involves obtaining public records of notices of violations
for health safety and labor laws during 1993 and 1994 identified
by the Targeted Industry Partnership Program (TIPP), an interagency
collaborative effort focusing on agriculture. They will then compare
the agricultural operations (farms and farm labor contractors) that
have received notices of violation for health, safety and labor
regulations with those that have not received notices to identify
patterns and risk factors or markers for violations.
In this era of increasing focus on government efficiency, the information
obtained from this study will be useful in informing agencies with
jurisdiction for occupational health and safety in agriculture about
the epidemiologic aspects of their efforts and potentially improving
educational, preventive and enforcement activities.
1995-03-06 BILINGUAL BOOK ON CHOLINESTERASE
A bilingual publication that explains cholinesterase testing is now
available through the University of California. This booklet, titled
Jorge's New Job, was developed by the Statewide UC Integrated
Pest Management (UCIPM) project. It uses a photo-illustrated format
known in Spanish-speaking cultures as a "fotonovela" to discuss the
reasons for and the importance of cholinesterase monitoring.
The cholinesterase fotonovela is aimed at agricultural pesticide
handlers who are required by their employers to have periodic blood
tests because of their pesticide-related activities. The booklet
explains to workers, in simple terms, how certain insecticides disrupt
the nervous system. It tells them who needs cholinesterase monitoring.
After reading the fotonovela, pesticide handlers will understand
why cholinesterase monitoring is necessary. Aside from explaining
the procedure, the fotonovela also dispels some of the common misconceptions
about cholinesterase monitoring.
Copies of this publication can be ordered from DANR Agricultural
Publications, 6701 San Pablo Blvd., Oakland, CA 94608-1239. To order
by FAX call (510) 643-5470. Jorge's New Job should also be
available from University of California, Agricultural Information
and Publications, Davis, CA 95616, as well as through county Cooperative
Extension offices. The price for single copies is $2; larger orders
will probably be available at a discount.
1995-03-07 FARM SAFETY FOR CHILDREN
Children who grow up on the farm have a very exciting, yet dangerous
backyard. This is why educating children and their families about
safety on the farm is so important. Each year thousands of young people
are severely injured and hundreds more are killed on farms and ranches
across the United States. Senseless injuries to children on the farm
do not have to be accepted as a cost of farming.
"Children of migrant farm workers in California have a different
set of health and safety problems than the farmers' children in
the Midwest. Often the homes of migrant farm workers are located
near the fields and there are potential hazards for their children
such as trucks going in and out, irrigation ditches and pesticide
spraying nearby," said Martha Stiles, Center investigator, who discussed
these and other hazards unique to western states agriculture with
Farm Safety 4 Just Kids representative Burton Kross during his visit
last spring.
Headquartered in Earlham, IA, Farm Safety 4 Just Kids is a non-profit
organization with more than 2,000 members and 44 chapters whose
mission is to prevent farm-related childhood injuries, health risks
and fatalities. The program offers several educational programs
each year and provides technical assistance to those who wish to
conduct their own farm safety programs. What can be done to ensure
a safe and healthy life for children on farms today? Below are a
few tips offered by Farm Safety 4 Just Kids to help young people
on the farm to be safe:
The Center endorses the efforts of programs such as Farm Safety
4 Just Kids. For more information about starting a chapter in your
area to educate kids about dangers on the farm, contact Farm Safety
4 Just Kids, P.O. Box 458, Earlham, Iowa 50072, phone 1-800-423-KIDS.
1995-03-08 FARM BUREAU SAFETY PROGRAMS
Satellite communications equipment linking county Farm Bureau offices
with conference and training sites may form the basis of a high-technology
farm safety education network spanning the entire state. That's the
vision of Dona Mast, president of Yolo County's Farm Bureau. Mast
is working with AgSafe Director and Center affiliate Donald Bennett
on a telecommunications education program that could provide critical
information to agricultural safety and health care personnel in widely
scattered rural areas.
According to Mast, communications equipment would be especially
valuable in remote areas in which doctors and nurses have a difficult
time traveling to continuing education classes required to maintain
their licenses. Mast joined Pene Wilson, director of CFBF's Rural
Health and Safety Committee, in describing some of the agricultural
health and safety programs implemented by CFBF at the Center's June
2 noon seminar titled "The Farm Bureau Approach to Agricultural
Health and Safety.
The California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) is California's largest
farm organization, representing approximately 80,000 member families
in 56 counties. Through its Rural Health and Safety Committee's
work with farmers, UC Davis and other universities, and government,
CFBF plays a key role in agricultural health and safety.
Wilson and Mast help growers and workers maintain Injury and Illness
Prevention Programs (IIP) by offering seminars as needed in English
and Spanish to keep them up to date on their regulations and to
teach them how to maintain safe farming practices.
The Rural Health and Safety Committee has been involved in producing
a number of publications, video tapes and programs to help educate
farmers, ranchers, workers and health care providers. Mast and Wilson
discussed the following CFBF health and safety promotion efforts:
Through her involvement with AgSafe, Wilson is organizing a safety
demonstration booth and first aid station at the Tulare Farm Show
in February. "An estimated 100,000 people a day attend the show,
including people from about 30 countries. This would be an excellent
opportunity for us to promote agricultural health and safety to
numerous individuals involved in all aspects of farming," she said.
Mast is looking at a program called "Adopt a Doc" in which doctors
live with farm families and work with them to get first hand knowledge
of what they do on a farm. She believes that this type of program
would be beneficial in Northern California.
In closing, Mast said, "CFBF Rural Health and Safety is interested
in the health and safety of California's farmers because we can't
be productive if we're not healthy, and being productive is what
our business is all about."
1995-03-09 DUTCH INTERNS AG CENTER FIRST
The arrival of Hanneke Kruize and Alka Keunen from the Agricultural
University of Wageningen in the Netherlands could mark the beginning
of an ongoing exchange of students and expertise between UC Davis
and Wageningen. Both in their fifth year of a six-year combined bachelors
and masters degree program, Hanneke and Alka contacted Center Director
Marc Schenker last February in hopes of serving an internship with
Center Industrial Hygienist Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, also from Wageningen.
Hanneke and Alka began working with Mark on April 1. Alka analyzed
exposure and peak flow diary data from the California Farm Operators
study, and Hanneke examined determinants of dust exposure of agricultural
workers working in the UC Davis experimental fields, considering
task, wind direction and speed, and soil moisture and temperature.
Hanneke spent her first 16 years in Groningen, Holland, and then
moved with her parents to the southern town of Heerlen. Alka was
born in India and grew up with her Dutch parents in Deurne, Holland.
At Wageningen, Hanneke conducted an 8-month study of the effects
of particulate matter 10 microns or smaller (PM-10) and iron particles
in the air on the respiratory health of the people living near a
steel plant. Alka conducted a 6-month study of the effects of control
measures on the exposure to endotoxins and gram-negative bacteria
in a Dutch potato processing plant. She found that the control measures
were effective, but the levels were still too high.
"I enjoy Davis because it's very much like Wageningen-both the
city and the university. The projects here at the Center are similar
to the projects we worked on in our department at Wageningen, so
the kind of research we're doing here is not completely new to us,"
said Hanneke. "The main difference is that the researchers work
more independently here. I feel that it's more important to collaborate."
Alka agrees that the similarities between Davis and Wageningen
is uncanny. In addition to many American friends they have made,
they also made new Dutch friends in Davis. "A few times a week we
[bi]cycle over to the campus coffeehouse to meet our Dutch friends
and talk about our experiences," said Alka. She added, "I was surprised
by the fact that people here are always so kind and helpful to us.
While our supervisor was on holiday, he let us borrow his car to
travel to the coast and to Yosemite."
After receiving her Master's degree, Hanneke plans to work on her
Ph.D. at a university or research institute either in Holland or
in California. Alka will join AKZO, a fiber plant in Emmen, for
which she will be working in the field of occupational hygiene.
"I'm looking for a student from Wagenigen to finish my research
project here, but no one has responded so far. I think one problem
is that it's very expensive to serve an internship in the United
States," said Hanneke. "I hope someone from Wageningen will be able
to come and continue the relationship between UC Davis and Wageningen."
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