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Hired farmworkers in the US: Demographics, work organisation, and services
Author(s) -
Reid Alison,
Schenker Marc B.
Publication year - 2016
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.22613
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational safety and health , indigenous , environmental health , psychological intervention , work (physics) , demographics , focus group , agriculture , gerontology , demography , nursing , geography , mechanical engineering , ecology , archaeology , pathology , marketing , sociology , engineering , business , biology
Objective Farm work is labor‐intensive, physically demanding, and incurs a high risk of injury. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of farmworkers at increased risk of adverse health outcomes to focus targeted interventions. Methods The National Agricultural Workers Survey for 2008–2012 was used to compare characteristics associated with adverse health and safety conditions among US‐born and Mexican and Central American‐born Latino and Indigenous, documented and undocumented farmworkers, separately for males and females. Results US‐born farmworkers had more secure work, worked less onerous tasks, and earned more per hour than other categories of farmworkers. Undocumented Indigenous workers had more precarious work, worked more onerous tasks, and were more likely to do piece work, than undocumented Latino workers. Discussion We highlight disparities in modifiable occupational health risk factors across groups of farmworkers that are associated with increased risks of work‐related injury and poor health. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:644–655, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.