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.
Fatal and non-fatal injuries in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors remain both elevated and poorly documented, compared to other work settings. The proposed surveillance project expands on the current Risk Information System for Commercial (RISC) Fishing, to encompass agriculture, forestry, and fishing in the four state (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) PNASH region.
Project aims are to:
The overall objectives of this project are to evaluate emerging pesticide application technologies and educational programming as interventions for breaking the pesticide exposure pathway on Northwest fruit farming systems. Labor-intensive fruit commodities put farmworkers and their families at disproportionate risk of pesticide-related illness via pesticide handling, drift, or the take-home exposure pathways.
Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic expansion of the Cannabis industry in multiple US states. Although thousands of new employees are joining the workforce each year, very little is known about the occupational hazards and potential health effects for workers involved in Cannabis cultivation. Recent pilot studies have demonstrated that these workers are exposed to a variety of respiratory hazards and may be at increased risk of occupational lung diseases, particularly work-related asthma.
This pilot project is developing a novel system, with a simulated environment, where workers identify potential safety concerns and assign a severity rating to the safety concerns. This system will uncover factors in risk decision making for new logging workers, informing future safety training programs.
Due to COVID-19, we had to modify the project’s approach to the simulated scenarios. This challenge led to a creative engagement format that now allows for broader participation.
The hazard of wildfire smoke exposure continues to increase in the Northwest and presents an important health risk to outdoor workers, including those in agriculture. This pilot seeks to develop wildfire decision aid tools driven by data from a high-density network of air quality monitoring sensors in Washington State.
