New UF Farm Safety Program Targets 200,000 Migrant Workers

June 30, 2005

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Down on the farm, it can be downright dangerous – especially for thousands of Florida migrant farm workers who may not be familiar with rules and regulations designed to ensure their safety on the job. But help is on the way, thanks to a new University of Florida farm safety-training program aimed at the state’s 200,000 migrant farm workers.

“What these workers don’t know about agriculture, it seems, can truly hurt them,” said Cesar Asuaje, an extension agent with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “In recent years, Hispanic workers have accounted for a growing number of injuries and fatalities in agriculture and related industries such as landscaping.”

He said immigrants from Mexico and other countries in the tropics make up the majority of Florida’s seasonal agricultural workers, and some have received little instruction in farm safety.

“As a result, injuries and fatalities among Hispanic workers are increasing, and the language barrier is one reason for that,” Asuaje said. “In a lot of cases, people are hurt because they cannot read signs or safety instructions, and some don’t want to let on that they don’t understand.”

Working out of UF’s extension office in West Palm Beach, Asuaje is offering farm safety training in 11 counties, and the training program is being expanded to meet a growing demand from the state’s Hispanic population. He goes to citrus groves, sugarcane fields, tomato farms and other agricultural enterprises throughout South Florida, teaching a one-day, on-the-job training course to migrant workers. The training, which is presented in Spanish, covers topics ranging from operating tractors and other heavy equipment to handling pesticides and avoiding back injuries.

The program is currently being offered in Broward, Collier, Hendry, Hillsborough, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas and St. Lucie counties.

Asuaje said the most recent statistics from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) indicate fatal injuries among Hispanic workers on the farm rose more than 18 percent while nonfatal injuries rose by 33 percent between 1999-2003.

In the landscaping industry – a sector of Florida agriculture that employs large numbers of immigrant workers – nonfatal injuries increased by 63 percent over the same period.

“It’s a trend you see everywhere, particularly in Florida,” said Luis Santiago, director of OSHA in the Fort Lauderdale area. “They’re doing work that others won’t do – and that usually means dangerous work.”

For example, when you can’t read instructions on heavy equipment, just about any work can become dangerous, Santiago said. He cited recent deaths among workers using heavy-duty industrial lawnmowers in landscaping operations in South Florida residential areas. Workers unfamiliar with warnings often use them on steep slopes near canals – and sometimes tumble in and get pinned under the mower.

Santiago said federal regulations require safety training for every worker. While some employers usually show a Spanish-language video, that’s no guarantee that every migrant worker will receive effective training.

“Most growers are honest, but some don’t train workers because they want to avoid claims against them if something goes wrong,” Santiago said. “For example, a lot of these workers have never seen a respirator before working here. If they’re spraying pesticide, they might not know that a respirator is required for protection.”

While video training materials may help, Asuaje said it’s better to have someone teaching in person. In addition to training workers at farms around the state, he organized the Hispanic Health and Safety Fair in Homestead, Fla. on June 4, and he is planning a similar program in Kissimmee on August 20. More than l,000 migrant farm workers are expected to attend.

The popularity of the farm safety program has led Asuaje to begin offering other Spanish-language classes. His office is one of the few places where Florida residents can take Spanish-language classes for a license to apply pesticides – something that can give a new landscaping company a leg up on competitors who are not licensed to apply pest-control products to lawns and shrubs.

Asuaje said the pesticide training class is popular among immigrants who started as landscape workers and then opened their own landscaping businesses.

The test for the license is in English, and applicants need some basic reading skills in English to pass the examination, but instruction in Spanish can make a difference in how well the students understand basic concepts, he said.

“We start with Spanish and include more and more English as the class goes along,” he said. “If someone has a problem understanding something, we can work it out in Spanish, which is easier.”

Asuaje said workers with acceptable reading skills seem to benefit most, while those who have lower reading skills will begin to learn the process for pesticide certification.

With the growing number of Spanish-speaking people in Florida, Asuaje says he has only begun to scratch the surface in the demand for instruction in farm safety and farming.

Tim Lockette, a former UF/IFAS news writer, contributed to this story.