RE: Looking for research on eye injuries in Florida farmworkers

[Guest guest]

,

Try Ted Scharf at NIOSH. He organized an evaluation workshop at the East Coast Forum last year which included a case study on eye injuries and injury prevention.

I am copying this message to him.

Tom Painter

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of SologaistoaSent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 12:46 PM Subject: [ ] Looking for research on eye injuries in Florida farmworkers

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can direct me to research on eye injuries in Florida farmworkers. Any references would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Kay Sologaistoa, M.S. Florida Association of Community Health Centers (FACHC) 433 North Magnolia Drive Tallahassee, Florida 32308 Office (850) 942-1822 Ext. 208 Fax (850) 942-9902 Cell (850) 519-1190 www.fachc.org

For Information on the 18th Annual East Coast Migrant Stream Forum, October 20-22, 2005, Memphis, Tennessee visit www.ncchca.org

[Guest guest]

,

There is a project that I do not believe is completely finished, but that

has released some preliminary results called "Preventing Eye Injuries in

Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers in Florida." You can look at a report that

discusses this project and some of their findings at the link below.

http://www.asph.org/UserFiles/trans_assoc.pdf

Josh Shepherd

National Center For Farmworker Health

Resource Center Manager

(512) 312-5463

Sologaistoa wrote:

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can direct me to research on eye

injuries in Florida farmworkers. Any references would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Kay

Sologaistoa, M.S.

Florida Association of

Community Health Centers (FACHC)

433 North Magnolia Drive

Tallahassee, Florida 32308

Office (850) 942-1822 Ext.

208

Fax (850) 942-9902

Cell (850) 519-1190

www.fachc.org

For Information on the 18th Annual East

Coast Migrant Stream Forum, October 20-22, 2005, Memphis, Tennessee visit

www.ncchca.org

--

[Guest guest]

Someone who worked with Edna Apostal at Gulfcoast South AHEC in Sarasota

did a study on eye injuries....also Luque is working on

this....here's his email:

luckyluque@...

A

Sologaistoa wrote:

> Hi,

>

> I wonder if anyone can direct me to research on eye injuries in

> Florida farmworkers. Any references would be much appreciated. Thank you.

>

>

> Kay Sologaistoa, M.S.

> Florida Association of Community Health Centers (FACHC)

> 433 North Magnolia Drive

> Tallahassee, Florida 32308

> Office (850) 942-1822 Ext. 208

> Fax (850) 942-9902

> Cell (850) 519-1190

> www.fachc.org <http://www.fachc.org/>

>

> For Information on the 18th Annual East Coast Migrant Stream Forum,

> October 20-22, 2005, Memphis, Tennessee visit www.ncchca.org

> <http://www.ncchca.org/>

>

>

>

>

>

> To Post a message, send it to: Groups

>

> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:

> -unsubscribe

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Everyone,

Monaghan Florida Prevention Research Center, University of South Florida,

put on an excellent case study on eye injuries to orange workers.

What follows is a short selection of the large amount of material that prepared.

I have added to this email message; please contact him directly.

BACKGROUND ON CITRUS HARVESTING IN FLORIDA

Citrus harvesting is hot, dirty, backbreaking work. Each November, more than 5,000 workers come to southwest Florida to harvest about a quarter of the state’s citrus crop. The majority come from Mexico with less than five percent coming from Haiti and Central America. By the end of July, most have left, with a few staying on to work other jobs until there is fruit to pick again. Citrus pickers, called “naranjeros”, make up about one-third of the more than 20,000 workers required to harvest and process agricultural crops in southwest Florida.

Citrus pickers specialize in their task because it requires physical fitness and endurance. As a result, an experienced picker can earn more than in other industries. Good workers are valued by the companies and small contractors they work for. Naranjeros are picked up at their homes in the dark hours of the morning and the bus stops at a Mexican grocery with a deli where they purchase food and drinks for the day. If they need a baseball cap or new pair of cotton gloves (the companies do not usually provide this necessary equipment) they can purchase them at the same store. The driver takes them to a remote orange grove and parks the bus next to the portable toilets at the end of a row of trees. Each worker picks in their own row, at their own pace. Picking is continuous (unless there is an interruption by rain) for at least 10 hours and workers decide when to stop to eat, rest or drink. When it begins to get dark, they will load up ride home to their trailer parks, stopping again at the store one more time.

The conditions in the field are difficult and the pace of work is steady. For a worker to make the minimum wage, he must pick more than two tons of fruit during the day, while climbing up and down a ladder. The fruit is transferred from the trees to a 900-pound bin using a canvas bag slung over the shoulder of the worker. The bag weighs 90 pounds when it is full and the picker climbs down to haul it to the bin and empty it. There is dust and mildew and chemical residues in the trees, the sun is hot and the air humid. Workers are left alone much of the day but the supervisor drives by periodically in a truck with an hydraulic lift to pick up the 900 pound bins for transfer into trailers. His truck, called a “goat” creates clouds of dust which settle everywhere.

Most of the young men who pick fruit have more than one year’s experience. There are also about a third of the workers who are trying citrus for the first time. Many new arrivals attempt to pick oranges but quit within a few months. While the price per box paid to workers has not kept pace with inflation, good pickers can average from $8.00- $9.00 per hour, a high wage in the area. While the piece rate in citrus is higher than vegetables, where most migrants in the area are employed, it comes at a cost to worker’s health. Workers suffer from falls and muscle strains, they get thorns in their hands and arms, insects bite them and their eyes get scratched and irritated. Injuries are frequently made worse by poor sanitary conditions and improper treatment. Workers in focus groups described long term injuries to the back, hands, shoulders, knees and eyes.

EYE INJURY AND PREVENTION DATA FROM QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Workers divide eye injuries into those that cause irritation and those that are a result of being struck by a branch. Getting hit or scratched by branches is different from an internal puncture. Workers call being hit with a branch, a “ramazo” or “golpe”. When they are pulling the branch to remove an orange, the branch may snap back and scratch them. In other cases, loose branches slide from behind the ladder and hit the picker. When the branch or thorn injures the eye they call it “piquete” .

Irritated eyes are the most common eye injuries; it happens very often or daily. The eye injuries that concern pickers the most, however are pokes and punctures because these might be more dangerous, leading to loss of eyesight. There is also the fear that a debilitating injury will not be treated properly by the company. Focus group respondents believe that pesticides (or more commonly, all chemicals that are sprayed) are the main cause of irritation. They assert that when a branch or a leaf touches their eyes, the spray residues cause a burning sensation. Most of the time, eye irritation is accepted as part of the cost of citrus work and it is usually treated by workers themselves, using drops from the pharmacy. Scratches and punctures are more likely to be reported to a supervisor and possibly treated at a clinic or eye specialist.

No workers in the focus groups or surveys currently used eye protection but several had tried to wear safety glasses. Most wear a baseball cap. Pickers complain that neither the companies, nor the chiveros give them glasses to protect their eyes; however, they themselves generally dislike glasses and recognize more disadvantages than advantages by wearing them. At the same time they claim they should be provided with glasses to protect their eyes, they also have the opinion that they will not wear them. We asked workers what injuries concerned them the most, out of 32 answers, 22 (69%) were related to fear of falling from the ladder or not being able to work, and only 3 (9.3%) feared an eye injury. While eye injuries are frequent and painful, overall they rank low on the list of the many things that concern citrus pickers.

Pickers use protective measures such as long sleeve shirts, caps, and bandanas. The cap protects them from the branches and the sun; the scarf around their heads keeps the sweat out of their eyes. Some of them say the bandana is better than wearing a cap, because sometimes the branches take away the cap which means losing time picking it up. Some of them use napkins or toilet paper to clean the sand and dry the sweat and thus keep their eyes clean and protected.

They generally recognize that neither the bandana, nor the cap is enough to protect their eyes. In order to avoid eye injuries, they would recommend being careful and picking slowly. This contradicts the need to pick fast. If a picker does not pick fast he is not earning money for the chivero and may not be hired again. Many pickers claim that eye injuries are unavoidable. When asked how to prevent eye injuries, they would often say, quit picking. There is a belief that higher salaries would reduce injuries by allowing workers to pick more cautiously.

Others advocate for better training. When new pickers begin, they are not trained; chiveros just tell them, “ here is your ladder and there is your row”. Companies are obligated to provide EPA training, usually by using a video, and some show a safety film made for citrus workers. Some experienced pickers tell new ones how to work. They tell them how to set the ladder, how to put the bag on while others don’t care. Most pickers learn from their own experience and watching experienced pickers. According to workers, training should include explanations about pesticides on the trees, the type of risks and kind of injuries they are exposed to as well as measures to avoid them.

is an excellent resource on this topic.

Ted

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Ted Scharf, Ph.D. Research Psychologist Work Organization and Stress Research Team National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health U.S. Public Health Service 4676 Columbia Parkway, ms/C-24 Cincinnati, Ohio 45226 513-533-8170 (w) 513-533-8596 (fax) TScharf@... NIOSH -- "Safety and health at work for all people - through research and prevention." http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of SologaistoaSent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 12:46 PM Subject: [ ] Looking for research on eye injuries in Florida farmworkers

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can direct me to research on eye injuries in Florida farmworkers. Any references would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Kay Sologaistoa, M.S. Florida Association of Community Health Centers (FACHC) 433 North Magnolia Drive Tallahassee, Florida 32308 Office (850) 942-1822 Ext. 208 Fax (850) 942-9902 Cell (850) 519-1190 www.fachc.org

For Information on the 18th Annual East Coast Migrant Stream Forum, October 20-22, 2005, Memphis, Tennessee visit www.ncchca.org