FARMWORKER HEALTH & SAFETY

The migrant and seasonal farmworkers in our country toil in the fields under backbreaking conditions.  They labor through bouts of unforgiving heat, are perpetually exposed to hazardous chemicals, and suffer from ergonomic destruction to their bodies.  It is not uncommon for farmworkers to leave the fields with skin rashes, open sores, irritated eyes, nausea and headaches.  These are the some of the visible consequences.  More alarming are the connections made between pesticide exposure and horrific long-term health effects such as Parkinson’s disease, autism, diabetes, and various forms of cancer.

AFOP’s Health and Safety Department seeks to address these alarming issues with several key programs aimed to mitigate the health hazards that farmworkers face.  Project HOPE continuously develops techniques to help farmworkers reduce their risk to pesticide exposure.  In addition to the pesticides that farmworkers encounter in the fields, their families are often unwittingly exposed to these same chemicals that are transported to their homes.  Recently, AFOP has initiated Project LEAF which examines the conditions that lead to pesticide take-home exposure and looks for preventive measures to keep pesticides out of the homes of farmworker families.