The University of California’s Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) and
The California Wellness Foundation recently provided funding to the Labor Occupational
Health Program (LOHP) to examine job health and safety for young agricultural workers in
California. The goals of the project were:
- To gather information and write a comprehensive report describing work-related illness
and injury among youth working in California agriculture. - To recommend educational, policy, and research interventions to improving the
occupational health and safety of young agricultural workers. - To implement educational strategies targeting young farmworkers.
These goals were accomplished through a literature review, student surveys, community
discussions, and employer interviews. The literature review and our field work raised a
number of interesting issues. Some highlights include:
- Current employment data on youth in California agriculture do not accurately reflect the situation in many agricultural communities in the San Joaquin Valley.
- Most national studies of childhood agricultural injury and illness cannot be generalized to California because of unique aspects of the state’s agricultural industry.
- Research is especially lacking on sexual harassment and other forms of workplace discrimination faced by young farmworkers.
English PDF: https://lohp.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DANR.pdf
