{"id":1591,"date":"2017-07-16T13:01:06","date_gmt":"2017-07-16T17:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2017-07-16T13:01:06","modified_gmt":"2017-07-16T17:01:06","slug":"farmworkers-hazard-injury-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2017\/07\/16\/farmworkers-hazard-injury-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost Both Arms and a Leg: Life and Death for Farmworkers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Intrepid Idaho Journalist Showcases Hazards Facing Farmworkers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"farmworkers\"
<\/strong> Photo by Earl Dotter, www.earldotter.com<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dairy workers drown in manure pits. Farmworkers poisoned by pesticides. \u00a0Limbs amputated. Electrocutions. Horrible, but just the tip of the iceberg on Idaho farms, according a remarkable article<\/a> by Idaho Statesman<\/em> journalist Audrey Dutton.<\/p>\n

Drowning and other manure\u00a0<\/strong>accidents\u00a0<\/strong>killed farmworkers in Idaho and at least\u00a0four other states during the past three years<\/a>, according to OSHA records.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just a fraction of the deaths in agriculture, one of the most dangerous industries in the U.S. More than 5,000 agricultural workers in the U.S. died on the job between 2003 and 2011,\u00a0a death rate seven times higher than average<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And it’s getting worse for farmworkers in Idaho, according to OSHA:<\/p>\n

The local OSHA office began noticing a \u201cdramatic uptick\u201d in agriculture fatalities in early 2013, and it has persisted, said David Kearns, OSHA area director.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat raised a flag to us, that there was something happening out there,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with vulnerable workers in very unique and continually changing situations. … Why we are seeing an uptick, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dutton lists some of the incidents she’s come across<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Javier Tellez Juarez lost both arms and a leg when his clothes got caught on machinery at a southeastern Idaho farm in the mid-1990s. His case prompted a change in Idaho law to require that farmers to carry workers\u2019 compensation insurance for their laborers. They had been exempt for decades.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Maria Aguirre was one of 29 workers poisoned by pesticides on a Caldwell onion farm in 2005. She told the Associated Press that the poisoning made it painful to eat and left her co-workers, including her mother and brother, with health problems. \u201cFarmers know that some workers are scared because they\u2019re illegal here, so they can do anything they want,\u201d Aguirre said then.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0A longtime employee of Amalgamated Sugar Co., Mario Munoz, got caught in machinery at the company\u2019s Nampa plant in 2009. Munoz, who had been studying to become a medical assistant, was the third person to die at the factory since 1985.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Farmworkers in Marsing, Shelley and Melba have died in recent years after being run over, folded in half, and electrocuted.<\/p>\n

And an OSHA expert explains why they are considered “vulnerable workers:”<\/p>\n

Many of those killed are foreign-born. Most of the workers killed on Idaho farms in the past few years\u00a0were non-English speakers or spoke English as a second language<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would characterize those employees as vulnerable workers,\u201d said Jordan Barab, who was deputy assistant secretary of OSHA in the Obama administration and now writes\u00a0Confined Space<\/a>, a newsletter about worker safety. \u201cSome of them are undocumented, but even the ones who are documented have come from other countries where, let\u2019s say, the government is not friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

These workers tend to be suspicious of government and unaware that OSHA exists or that they have rights. A complaint can put them at risk of getting fired or deported, Barab said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a group OSHA has a hard time reaching,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Small Farms: OSHA KEEP OUT!<\/h2>\n

Most upsetting, however, is the fact that Congress has forbidden OSHA from setting foot on farms with ten or fewer employees — not including family members (unless they also run a temporary labor camp.) Now, pay attention, because few people know about the absurdity of the small farm \u00a0“rider” that has been on OSHA’s budget since the 1970’s. \u00a0OSHA has another small business rider that forbids OSHA from enfocing any safety-related violations for small employers who belong to industry groups that have injury and illness rates below the national average. But in that case, OSHA can still inspect if there’s a fatality, three or more hospitalizations, an imminent danger, a worker complaint, or any health-related violations.<\/p>\n

The agriculture rider, on the other hand has no exceptions for small farms or farmworkers who work on small farms: even if there’s a death (or 9 deaths), a worker complaint, an imminent danger or a worker complaint, OSHA cannot investigate or cite. Dutton describes what this means:<\/p>\n

Those farms are supposed to keep records and to report work-related deaths and catastrophes. But it\u2019s impossible to know if they do, because OSHA is not allowed to check if they\u2019re complying or to fine them if they\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

The exemption kept OSHA from investigating\u00a0the death of a 36-year-old worker\u00a0<\/a>in March at Double Arrow Inc. in Terreton, northwest of Idaho Falls. C.J. Frizzell, a Rexburg father of four with one on the way, died when he was caught in a hay grinder at the farm.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have these small farms, which are highly hazardous workplaces, and not to allow OSHA to set foot there, is inexcusable,\u201d Barab said.<\/p>\n

Across the border in Washington, a state occupational-safety law makes small farms subject to safety enforcement. In Idaho, there is no extra layer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are dairies where there are only two workers, and they\u2019re milking 1,800 cows,\u201d Trejo said. \u201cThis is why the accidents happen and nobody finds out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read It And Weep: Then Act<\/h2>\n

Read the entire article<\/a>\u00a0(and don’t forget to check out the video, below, with OSHA Area Director David Kearns). \u00a0This is an amazing piece of journalism and follows another great article that Dutton wrote about hazards faced by workers in residential construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And when you’re finished reading it, pass it around — especially to other journalists in your area. Dutton’s journalism should serve as a model to be replicated across the country. Working conditions promise to only get worse for these workers as OSHA’s resources decline, and training for farmworkers under the Susan Harwood Worker Training grants are eliminated.<\/p>\n

Stories like this are essential for educating the public — and our lawmakers — about the hazards that workers face, the obstacles erected to addressing those problems, and what needs to be done to keep the problems from getting worse.<\/p>\n