The forest service workforce in the Pacific Northwest is largely immigrant, low-literate, and Spanish-speaking with unique vulnerabilities due to a lack of skills and safety training, occupational immobility, remote work locations, and small contractor employment.
This project seeks to refine spatial and temporal estimates of wildfire smoke, heat, and dual exposure among region X crop workers. This project will estimate and compare the burden of exposure (worker days at risk) to wildfire smoke (WFS), heat, and dual exposure among crop worker groups.
Climate-related environmental hazards, including successive high-heat days and poor air quality from wildfire smoke, are projected to continue and worsen, increasing occupational risks for farmworkers in Central Washington. Farmworker support agencies are facing related training and resource provision needs while filling associated support gaps.
