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Migrant and seasonal crop worker injury and illness across the northeast
Author(s) -
Scribani Melissa,
Wyckoff Sherry,
Jenkins Paul,
Bauer Henry,
EarleRichardson Giulia
Publication year - 2013
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.22150
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , environmental health , occupational safety and health , workers' compensation , agriculture , demography , population , farm workers , health care , compensation (psychology) , geography , pathology , physics , economic growth , psychoanalysis , optics , economics , psychology , archaeology , sociology
Background Northeast farmworkers are a small, widely dispersed, and isolated population. Little is known about their occupational injury and illness risk. Methods Researchers conducted chart reviews in migrant health centers across the Northeast, and calculated incidence‐density for agricultural morbidity based on a new method for estimating total worker hours at risk, and adjusting for cases seen at other sources of care. Results An estimated annual average of 1,260 cases translated to an incidence of 30.27 per 10,000 worker weeks, (12.7 per 100 FTEs). Straining / spraining events (56% cases) was the most common occurrence (16.8 per 10,000 worker weeks), and lifting (21.5% cases) was the leading contributing factor. Incidence by crop category ranged from 12.95 (ground crop) to 29.69 (bush crop) per 10,000 weeks. Only 2.8% filed for Workers' Compensation. Conclusion The predominance of straining/spraining events affecting the back, and their association with lifting suggests that Northeastern farmworker occupational health programs should focus on ergonomics, and specifically on safe lifting. Am. J. Ind. Med. 56:845–855, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.