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1. Conduct ongoing surveillance and analysis of farm injuries, fatalities, illnesses, major food-related emergencies/disasters, and other unusual or sentinel events that point at the need for further research or targeted education and outreach. 2. Conduct targeted research using surveys, focus groups, and literature reviews to investigate and document important public and worker health and safety impacts that result from specific agricultural/food system production practices. 3. Assess, develop, and promote new engineered technologies that reduce occupational risk to workers in agriculture and closely related food industries and that also have potential homeland security benefits.
Non-Technical Summary: Agricultural and food system work practices and processes can cause injury and illnesses to workers and public health risks This project blends a combination of engineering/design approaches; discovery of new trends and patterns resulting from changes in production processes or worker characteristics; and development of improved education/procedural information to reduce the incidence and severity of food system workplace injury and illness. <P> Approach: This project is a framework and overall umbrella for a combination of current and expected research activities designed to prevent injury and illness to agricultural and food system workers and to control public health risks related to agricultural and food system work practices and processes. Research projects under this umbrella focus on the control and prevention of agricultural and food system work-related injury/illness caused by exposures to a range of hazards including machinery, toxic gases/aerosols, confined spaces, and infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, and parasites). The work proposed in this project blends a combination of engineering/design approaches; discovery of new trends and patterns resulting from changes in production processes or worker characteristics; and development of improved education/procedural information to reduce the incidence and severity of food system workplace injury and illness. In addition, issues of food system-related homeland security and public health are addressed, particularly with respect to worker implications. This includes the worker's role as a potentially exposed victim in the case of an intentional attack to our food system, as well as their role as a possible perpetrator. Research projects previously funded to protect the integrity of the national and global food system often overlook the importance of the workers. Worker safety and health activities and protective behaviors have important food protection implications. In addition, sensors and technologies that might be designed to protect our food system can/should also be used to protect those involved in producing and processing food (and vice versa). This work will be accomplished under the additional critical assumption that the agricultural and food system workforce is growing increasingly diverse with a growing number of immigrant and migrant workers throughout the system from farm to table. This trend creates additional challenges and research opportunities as new engineered technologies, educational programs, health promotion campaigns, and public policy must account for differences in language, culture, and an appreciation for and/or understanding of safety concepts.