Premium
Does the small farm exemption cost lives?
Author(s) -
Somervell Philip D.,
Conway George A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20931
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational safety and health , enforcement , environmental health , agriculture , occupational medicine , tax exemption , occupational exposure , law , geography , pathology , political science , archaeology
Background Congress has exempted farms with fewer than 11 employees from enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Three states (California, Oregon, and Washington) do not observe the exemption. Methods We compared rates of fatal occupational injury in agriculture, by year, in 1993–2007, in California, Oregon, and Washington (aggregated), and the remaining states (as two aggregated groups): those with, and those without, state‐designed occupational safety and health programs. Results Fatality rates were approximately 1.6 to 3 times as high in both groups of states observing the small farm exemption as in the group of three states not observing it. Comparisons excluding the agriculture industry showed weaker differences. Conclusions The three states' opting out of the small farm exemption may have had substantial direct effects. They may also reflect and/or encourage a generally more effective approach to occupational health and safety. Although alternative explanations must be considered, the stakes are high in terms of injury and loss of life; further investigation seems urgently indicated. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:461–466, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.