As record-setting heat waves stretch across the US and the globe, it is impossible to ignore the impact on millions of workers. Many at risk of heat injury work in professions that already present higher hazards—such as agribusiness and construction. Not only can high...
It’s nearly impossible for a worker to pick produce that grows on the ground, such as strawberries, without stooping or squatting. Consider the repetitive nature of the motions required to pick numerous berries in an hour, day, and week and it can quite literally...
Farm work—while entrenched in American culture—is backbreaking work, which is why the machinery and technology innovations of the 20th century were a welcome replacement for much of the human labor. But unlike commodity crops like corn and soybeans, fruit, vegetable,...
With wildfires becoming more frequent in more regions of the US, the health hazards of working outdoors in smoky air is at issue for hundreds of thousands of workers—not just those fighting the fires—and workers don’t have to be that close to the fire to be affected....
Ladders are a source of workplace accidents everywhere they’re used, but your orchard and grove clients need to pay special attention to ladder safety. When you consider the way workers use ladders in these settings—the reaching, the constant climbing up and...
Even with a steady stream of new standards and regulations in both worker and work equipment safety, agriculture is still one of the most dangerous industries in the U.S. Some of the highest severity injuries can be blamed on riding farm equipment—tractors, ATVs,...
Agriculture is virtually unrecognizable compared to fifty years ago. In 1962, a single farmer fed 25.8 people. The same farmer now feeds 155 people — and they do it on fewer acres thanks to changes in technologies generally and rapid improvements in crop management....
COVID-19 outbreaks have impacted agricultural businesses around the world. In several states, public health departments can now link several hotspots with meatpacking plants where workers functioned within close proximity of one another. If more than one worker...