UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at Davis
On-Line News
Issue Number 1996-03
Summer 1996
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
1996-03-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1996-03-01 Table of Contents
- 1996-03-02 Welcome and Introduction
- 1996-03-03 Pesticide Illness in Brazil: a
Recent Public Concern
- 1996-03-04 Rural Drivers: Stop! Look! Listen!
- 1996-03-05 First on Scene Training Conference
- 1996-03-06 Guide Available on Preventing
Heat Illness in Agriculture
- 1996-03-07 Noon Seminar: Tom Cook on Ergonomics
- 1996-03-08 Profile: Dona Mast, California
Farm Bureau's Director of Rural Health & Safety
- 1996-03-09 Conference Call--Health &
Safety in Western Agriculture: Working Together
1996-03-02 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 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:
To: aghealthnews-request@oem.ucdavis.edu
Subject:
Message:
subscribe (your name here)
1996-03-03 PESTICIDE ILLNESS IN BRAZIL A RECENT
PUBLIC CONCERN
UC Agricultural Health and Safety Center Director Marc Schenker recently
lectured on agricultural health issues in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Schenker's
trip was sponsored by the University of Sao Paulo School of Public
Health and SENAR, a Brazilian confederation of agricultural interests.
Brazil has the largest agricultural economy of any country in South
America, as well as many of the health and safety problems of agricultural
work common to other countries around the world. Like many developing
countries, Brazil has a particularly heavy burden of acute illness
and death due to pesticide exposure. Unfortunately there is no surveillance
system or other source of data on the rate of pesticide-related
illnesses in Brazil. Data from other developing countries suggests
that each year 3 percent or more of agricultural workers may have
acute toxicity from pesticides. Readily available to the general
public, pesticides are a source of many unintentional and intentional-suicidal-illnesses
and deaths.
During discussions with representatives from various state health
departments, the School of Public Health, the Ministry of Labor
and the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Schenker learned that
a pilot surveillance system of pesticide illnesses has been initiated
in five Brazilian states. This important system will provide data
on the frequency and nature of pesticide illnesses in Brazil, and
allow a focused effort on prevention of these events.
Brazil lacks effective controls on the sale or use of pesticides.
Even the most toxic pesticides that are banned in the United States
are available for purchase. There are no requirements for training
or special equipment for pesticide applicators in Brazil.
Dr. Schenker discussed many of the programs in place in California
to prevent pesticide illnesses, including mandatory training and
certifying of pesticide applicators, monitoring pesticide illnesses
statewide, reviewing pesticide hazards before they are certified
by the state, and mandatory re-entry intervals.
He outlined some of the projects on which Center investigators
are working to identify specific risk factors for pesticide illnesses,
including the culturally appropriate materials being developed for
non-English-speaking farmworkers.
Attendees were interested in learning more about the various approaches
the Center is taking to reduce pesticide-related illnesses and,
where possible, applying those methods in Brazil.
At a well-attended lecture sponsored by SENAR, Dr. Schenker spoke
on the topic "O Uso de Pesticidas e a Saúde e Segurança
Dos Trabalhadores" (The Use of Pesticides and the Health and Safety
of Agricultural Workers.) The lecture, which was simultaneously
trans-lated into Portuguese, addressed global issues relating to
pesticide use and health and safety. Dr. Schenker pointed out that
the developing countries of the world consume only 20-25 percent
of the world's pesticides but account for 99 percent of the pesticide-related
fatalities. He noted that an estimated 3 million people worldwide
annually suffer acute pesticide poisonings. The World Health Organ-ization
estimates that this number may be matched by a greater number of
unreported or unrecognized illnesses. The number of deaths from
pesticides each year is estimated to be more than 200,000.
Anyone interested in these issues should contact Dr. Marc Schenker,
director of the UC Agricultural Health and Safety Center at Davis,
at (916) 752-4050 for more information.
1996-03-04 RURAL DRIVERS: STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!
by Cynthia Bates and Martha Stiles
A bilingual driver safety program is helping to reduce the motor vehicle
fatality and injury rates among California's Hispanic farmworker population
through education and awareness campaigns. The ¡Maneje Seguro!
driver safety project, based on La Loteria del Manejo Seguro (the
Driver Safety Game) includes community training, safety festivals
and media campaigns throughout the Central Valley of California.
After conducting needs analyses with law enforcement officials
and farmworker drivers, Center inves-tigators Martha Stiles and
Jenny Rodriguez discovered a need for bilingual, culturally-appropriate
training sessions and and materials to address the motor vehicle
problem. They found that the chances of dying on California's rural
roads are three times greater than in other parts of the state,
and that traffic fatalities involving Hispanic drivers are disproportionatly
high. The fatality rate among this group increased from 33 percent
in 1989 (of total fatalities) to 45 percent in 1993. State highway
statistics show that automobile accidents increase during the peak
harvest season as some 900,000 to 1.5 million laborers arrive to
work on California farms.
Part of the problem stems from the fact that some farmworkers have
low literacy skills in English and Spanish. Many come from Mexico
and are not aware of traffic regulations in this state. When cited
they may not understand why, thus rendering enforcement an ineffective
deterrent of future violations. The answer is to educate drivers
about safe driving practices, laws, regulations and ways to respond
in emergency situations.
The bilingual community training sessions, conducted by Jim Grieshop,
Martha Stiles, Cynthia Bates and Nora Benavides, are tailored to
special audiences. They are offered in a train-the-trainer format,
informal group settings, or in formal classroom situations. They
provide the necessary information and materials for community members
to conduct their own specialized training. The students, in turn,
learn motor vehicle laws and safer driving practices. Targeting
migrant youth, staff members conducted training sessions for migrant
education classes at Davis and Woodland high schools, Yolo Alternative
Education Center in West Sacramento,Citrus Middle School in Fresno
County, and for Teens for Seatbelt Safety in Salinas. Other training
venues include Woodland adult ESL classes, migrant labor camps in
Solano and Yolo counties, Yolo County Farm Bureau worker safety
training, and the farm safety managers conference in Fresno.
Safety festivals and community faires serve as efficient locales
for educating large groups in one setting. Motor vehicle safety
festivals are collaborative efforts among Loteria staff, local public
and law enforcement officials, farmer groups and schools. Driver
Safety Festivals were held in Orange Cove and Lindsay, and others
are planned for Mendota and Madera. Staff members also participated
in community Hispanic faires in Woodland, Fairfield and Fresno,
where special information booths and displays were used to heighten
driver awareness.
One driver safety media campaign,directed by bilingual media specialist
Myriam Grajales-Hall, used Spanish-language newspapers, radio and
television to reach a broader audience, in this case no less than
50,000 Hispanics in the Fresno area. Loteria's safe driver images
were printed in newspapers, while radio broad-casters announced
the safe practices corresponding with each image. Callers phoned
the radio station to correctly identify the driving practice to
win prizes. Participants agreed the driver safety media campaign
was a fun and effective way to learn about driver safety. Teaching
farmworkers to teach their families and neighbors to be responsible
drivers will help reduce motor vehicle fatality rates in the Central
Valley.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Cynthia Bates is a ¡Maneje Seguro! team
member and second-year graduate student in the International Agricultural
Development Program. Martha C. Stiles is a Center investigator and
research associate with the Department of Human and Community Development.
1996-03-05 FIRST ON SCENE TRAINING CONFERENCE
By Martha C. Stiles
The Yolo County Farm Bureau was once again first on the scene, providing
safety training to farmworkers early in the season. In March the Yolo
County Farm Bureau and the UC Agricultural Health and Safety Center
co-sponsored the third "First on the Scene" safety conference. Since
its inception last year, all 53 county farm bureaus in California
have adapted the First on the Scene curriculum. According to Dona
Mast, president of the Yolo County Farm Bureau, the goal was to teach
workers and supervisors how to respond in emergency life-threatening
situations, especially if they are the first to arrive at the scene
of an accident.
Thirty-five farmworkers attended the day-long series of interactive,
hands-on workshops presented in Spanish and English. Experts from
local agencies with Center investigators Martha Stiles and Jennifer
Weber, provided vital safety information on CPR, rural driving hazards,
tractor and pesticide safety and electrical hazards. Weber, a trainer
with the Statewide Integrated Pest Manage-ment (IPM) program, created
scenarios in which trainees responded to pesticide spills. Using
a miniature farm neighborhood wired with live electrical current,
PG&E; represen-tatives dramatically demon-strated potential dangers
of working around electrical wires.
The safe driver training was a new segment. Martha Stiles, of the
UC ¡Maneje Seguro! driver safety program, noted that fatalities
and injuries on Yolo County roads increased in the last year by
more than 7 percent. She said that 45 percent of total auto injuries
and 60 percent of the fatalities occurred in rural areas of the
county. Alcohol-related injuries also increased. Because of these
hazards, Dona Mast hopes the participative workshop using La Loteria
del Manejo Seguro, the driver safety training game, will become
a permanent part of the First on the Scene program.
1996-03-06 GUIDE AVAILABLE ON PREVENTING HEAT
ILLNESS IN AGRICULTURE
Nearly 500 people are killed each year in the United States by the
effects of heat. High air temperature and humidity place agricultural
workers at risk for heat illness. Workers Compensation claims for
heat illness among agricultural workers are among the highest of any
occupation.
Pesticide handlers and early entry workers are at even greater
risk. The special clothing and equipment they wear for protection
from exposure to pesticides can restrict the evaporation of sweat,
blocking the body's natural way of cooling itself. In addition,
pesticides are absorbed through hot, sweaty skin more quickly than
through cool skin.
A program to prevent heat illness will:
--Protect health. Heat illness is preventable. Less severe forms
can be treated before becoming life-threatening.
--Improve safety. Workers with even mild effects of heat illness
are more likely to have accidents and use poor judgment.
--Increase productivity. People work slower and less efficiently
under conditions of extreme heat.
EPA/OSHA's "A Guide to Heat Stress in Agriculture" is available
from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). A summary of the
guide in chart form-English on one side, Spanish on the other, 24"
X 20", in color and suitable for posting-is also available. To order
the guide from GPO, call (202) 512-1800 or write GPO, Superintendent
of Doc-uments, Washington, DC 20402, and refer to document number
055-000-00474-9. Copies cost $3.50 each, with a 25 percent discount
for orders of 100 or more.
To order the English/Spanish summary chart, call or write GPO and
refer to document number 055-000-00544-3. The summary chart costs
$1.25 each with a 25 percent discount for orders of 100 or more.
1996-03-07 NOON SEMINAR:TOM COOK ON ERGONOMICS
"We have about four hogs for every person in Iowa, so we're big
on pigs," joked Tom Cook during a talk he gave last May to a room
full of agricultural health and safety professionals. An ergonomics
investigator at the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health
in Iowa City, Cook traveled to Davis to present his talk, "New Developments
in Agricultural Ergonomics," during the Center's noon seminar.
He said the primary risk factors for musculoskeletal injury include
--posture (awkward posture),
--force (forceful exertions) and
--repetition (high repetition).
"But there are certainly other factors, such as vibration, temperature
and humidity," said Cook. "The big question we're trying to answer
is `How much force does it take to ultimately develop cumulative
trauma?'"
Cook and his colleagues have been testing a measurement technique
called electromyography (EMG) for evaluating human movement. Their
method involves placing electrodes on the skin to measure muscle
impulses. In the agricultural industry, Cook cited "load carry"
as a common cause for muscle strain (e.g., carrying bags of fruit,
nursery pots, bags of seed and corn). He and his colleagues have
been testing different load carrying methods to determine the effects
they have on back muscle activity.
"One solution would be to make smaller bags. But try to convince
people such as seed and corn manufacturers to use 40 lb. bags instead
of 80 lb. bags to reduce straining the backs of poor farmers," quipped
Cook.
His study found that subjects carrying 10-20 percent of their body
weight on one or the other side of their body developed an asymmetrical
strain on muscles of the opposite side. But carrying the same load
in a backpack reduced the load on the muscles. Cook referred to
another ergonomic factor, vibration, which is present not only in
the agricultural industry but also in the construction and trucking
industries.
"What has been identified in the physiological literature for a
long time, but hasn't been looked at in a practical sense, is vibration
synchronous response," said Cook.
By using EMG, investigators found that workers whose jobs subject
them to bouncing around (such as on a tractor, bulldozer or truck)
or vibration (operating a jack hammer, for example) experience vibration
synchronous response, an involuntary muscle response with each cycle
of vibration, causing muscles to contract.
"We found that leaning forward exaggerates the muscle response
dramatically," said Cook. "If the spine is aligned with more lumbar
support, we detected smaller response, thus, less muscle activity."
Other studies conducted by the Iowa investigators include a newspaper's
classified advertising workers, who reported high incidents of neck
and shoulder pain. Cook found that workers were cradling the telephone
handset on their shoulder for long periods of time. By using a telephone
headset the problem disappeared.
Another example Cook cited was a meat packing plant in Iowa, where
many workers complained of wrist pain, often associated with carpal
tunnel syndrome. Working with ergonomics in-vestigators, the company
de-veloped new methods for per-forming three different tasks. Cook
meter-tested workers using the old method and the new method. His
data showed a net reduction in the amount of effort involved in
the new method over the old one.
"Finding ways to reduce muscle activity in all industries will
ultimately reduce worker fatigue," said Cook. His biggest challenge
is to convince managers and workers there's a better, healthier
way to perform a task.
1996-03-08 PROFILE: DONA MAST, CALIFORNIA FARM
BUREAU'S DIRECTOR OF RURAL HEALTH & SAFETY
As a farmer, Dona Mast knows firsthand the issues facing farm owners
and workers. As a nurse, she developed a good grasp of rural health
issues, working for the Head Start and Migrant Health programs in
Yolo County in the 1970s. As a community activist, president of
the Yolo County Farm Bureau and chair of the California Farm Bureau
Federation's (CFBF) Rural Health and Safety Committee, Dona is an
advocate for improving health and safety among farmworkers and their
families.
"I think one big issue facing Northern California farmers today
is the fact that they are aging," said Mast. "Some of the health
and safety concerns in this aging population include accidents and
skin cancer."
Dona's 10-year involvement in the CFBF has brought her much respect
from its leadership. She was recently named "ex-officio," serving
in an advisory capacity on the Farm Bureau's Board of Directors.
"Dona's appointment is considered an honor on a personal level,
but from my perspective, it gives health and safety issues a voice
at the board and policy level," said Donald Bennett, director of
AgSafe. He added, "When Dona Mast talks, people listen. I, personally,
have a very high regard of her."
Dona is working closely with Center investigators Pat Marer and
Jennifer Weber to organize local chapters of Farm Safety 4 Just
Kids in the Western Region to help reduce farm injuries to children
in agricultural communities.
"Children should be made aware of potential hazards on the farm,"
said Mast. "We're working with the sheriffs' department, 4-H, FFA
and other agencies to develop Farm Safety Camps for kids where they'll
learn first aid and CPR."
Several times a year Dona helps growers maintain Injury and Illness
Prevention Programs (IIP) by participating in seminars-offered in
English and Spanish-designed to keep growers up to date on new regulations
and to teach them how to maintain safe farming practices.
As director of the Rural Health and Safety Committee, Dona works
closely with Operation Help, a hospital equipment liaison project
in which urban hospitals throughout the state provide CFBF with
a list of usable equipment they no longer need but which rural hospitals
or clinics can use.
"Operation Help is sort of a modern-day Robin Hood," said Dona.
"For many hospitals and clinics it's the difference between staying
open or not."
This year some of the supplies not needed by rural hospitals or
medical clinics were donated to a hospice center, and some were
sent to South America. The program will soon be accessible on the
Internet, enabling remote communities to establish links with Operation
Help.
Working with Center investigator Martha Stiles, a host of local
emergency responders and community health and safety agencies, Dona
helped launch First on the Scene Safety Training in November 1994.
Presented in both English and Spanish, the program targets farmers
and workers who are untrained in emergency medical services and
procedures.
"Emergency services are usually located miles from farms and ranches,
which makes it essential for farmers to know how to summon help
quickly," said Dona.
The program has since been offered several times in Yolo County
and has been extended to other California counties, as well. Dona,
her husband, Cowles, and son, Calvin, with Cowles' brother and nephew,
farm 3,000 acres consisting mainly of row crops in Esparto. They
employ 46 workers, a number that increases during tomato season.
"Many of our workers were once migrant and are now permanent but
seasonal," she said. "When new workers come in we make sure they're
trained in health and safety."
Dona says she has seen a noticeable improvement in agricultural
health and safety over the years. And she spent a good part of her
life contributing to those improvements.
1996-03-09 CONFERENCE CALL--HEALTH & SAFETY
IN WESTERN AGRICULTURE: WORKING TOGETHER
(Preliminary program. Some program elements may change)
Sunday, September 8, 1996
1-4 p.m. Registration & poster setup
6-9 p.m. Social/Mixer (Buehler Alumni Center)
Monday, September 9, 1996
8-8:25 a.m. Registration, Continental Breakfast
Featured Speaker (8:30)
W. R. "Reg" Gomes, PhD, "The Role of Cooperative Extension in Agricultural
Health & Safety," Vice President, Division of Agriculture and
Natural Resources, UC Davis
INJURY AND ILLNESS IN WESTERN AGRICULTURE
Moderator:
Stephen McCurdy, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology
& Preventive Medicine; Associate Director, UC Agricultural Health
& Safety Center at Davis, UC Davis
Speakers:
Marc Schenker, MD, MPH, "New Topics in Western Agricultural Respiratory
Disease," Director, UC Agricultural Health & Safety Center at
Davis; Chair, Dept. of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, UC
Davis
Stephen McCurdy, MD, MPH, "New Directions in Agricultural Injury
Research," Associate Director, UC Agricultural Health & Safety
Center at Davis; Associate Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology &
Preventive Medicine, UC Davis
Jake Mackenzie, PhD, "Implementation of the Federal Worker Protection
Standard," Western Director, Field Operations Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs, US EPA, San Francisco, CA
12-1:30 p.m. Lunch (Buehler Alumni Center)
AGRICULTURAL ERGONOMICS AND MECHANIZATION
Moderators:
John Miles, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Biological & Agricultural
Engineering, UC Davis
Robert Spear, PhD, Professor, Environmental Engineering Health Science
Laboratory, Richmond Field Station, UC Berkeley
Speakers:
Richard Cavaletto, PhD, "The Role of Engineering in Injury Prevention,"
Dept. of BioResource & Agriculture Engineering, California Polytechnic
Institute-San Luis Obispo
John Miles, PhD, "Improving Ergonomics in the Nursery: A Model for
Agriculture," Professor, Dept. of Biological & Agricultural
Engineering, UC Davis
CHALLENGES TO AGRICULTURAL HEALTH AND SAFETY: GENDER, ETHNICITY,
AND CULTURE
Moderator:
James Grieshop, PhD, Specialist, Community Education Development,
Dept. of Human & Community Development, UC Davis
Speakers:
Fernando Sañudo, "Cultural Issues Faced by Farmworkers while
Accessing Preventive Health Care and Health Education," Project
Director, Vista Community Clinic, Vista, CA
Pamela Elkind, PhD, "TBA," Director, The Center for Farm Health
& Safety, Dept. of Sociology, Eastern Washington University,
Cheney, WA
Hector Balcazar, PhD, "TBA," Associate Chair/Associate Professor,
Dept. of Family Resources & Human Development, Arizona State
University, Tempe, AZ
6-9 p.m. Mixer/Dinner (University Club)
Tuesday, September 10, 1996
8-8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
CURRENT ISSUES IN PESTICIDE SAFETY
Moderators:
Henry Buckwalter, MSc, Registration Specialist, Western United States,
Uniroyal Chemical Co., Elk Grove, CA
Alan Buckpitt, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology & Preventive
Medicine, UC Davis
Speakers:
James Seiber, PhD, "Pesticide Inhalation Exposure and Risk," Director,
University Center for Environmental Sciences & Engineering,
Univ. of Nevada-Reno
Richard Fenske, PhD, "Pesticide Exposure Assessment among Children
of Agricultural Families," Dept. of Environmental Health, Univ.
of Washington-Seattle
Richard Cavaletto, PhD, "Bringing Safety Education to disadvantaged
Groups," Ag Safety Institute, Dept. of BioResource & Agriculture
Engineering, California Polytechnic Institute-San Luis Obispo
WORKSHOPS (10:30-noon)
"Cancer in Agriculture," James Beaumont, PhD, Dept. of Epidemiology
and Preventive Medicine, UC Davis
"Cholinesterase Testing: Is It Any Good?" Barry Wilson, PhD, Chair/Professor,
Dept. of Avian Sciences, UC Davis; James Sanborn, PhD, Staff Toxicologist,
Cal EPA, Department of Pesticide Regulation, Worker Health &
Safety Branch, Sacramento, CA
"Worker Safety Training," Patrick Marer, PhD, IPM Education &
Publications, UC Davis
"The Internet in Agricultural Health & Safety," Howard Rosenberg,
PhD, Director, Agricultural Personnel Management Program (APMP),
Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Berkeley
"Skin Disease in Agriculture," Paivikki Susitaival, MD, Dept. of
Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, UC Davis
"Pesticide Exposure Assessment in Agriculture," Richard Fenske,
PhD, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
12-1:30 p.m. Lunch (Buehler Alumni Center)
EMERGING TOPICS IN AGRICULTURAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Moderators:
Barry Wilson, PhD, Chair/Professor, Dept. of Avian Sciences, UC
Davis Don Villarejo, PhD, Executive Director, California Institute
for Rural Studies, Davis, CA
Speakers:
Don Villarejo, PhD, "How Farmworkers Perceive the Federal Worker
Protection Standard of the US EPA," Executive Director, California
Institute for Rural Studies, Davis, CA
Dean Cliver, PhD, "Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Agricultural
Workplace," Professor, Population Health & Reproduction, School
of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis
Michael Fry, "Are Agricultural Chemicals Causing Environmental Endocrine
Effects?" Assistant Researcher, Dept. of Avian Sciences, UC Davis
3:30 p.m. Closing Commentary
REGISTRATION FEE
The registration fee is $125; $50 for students. Registration fees
may be paid by check (in U.S. funds and drawn on U.S. bank) or major
credit card.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information, call Jane Hamiel at the UC Agricultural Health
& Safety Center, e-mail hamiel@commhlth.ucdavis.edu., or (916)
752-4050
|
