empowering farmworkers to improve their living and working conditions since 1981

Advocating for Occupational and Environmental Health Protections for Farmworkers

Newsletters - Spring 2009 Newsletter

Farmworkers are engaged in one of the country's most hazardous occupations, yet they are excluded from many of the workplace safety protections provided to workers in other industries. Shelley Davis worked tirelessly to change this situation by fighting for increased workplace protections and improved safety training for farmworkers. She was particularly concerned about pesticide exposure, and took a leading role in the promulgation of the Worker Protection Standard, which requires employers to take actions to reduce workers' pesticide exposure. The standard is currently being revised, and Farmworker Justice is strongly advocating for increased protections in the new standard, expected to be published in 2010.

Shelley constantly sought creative ways to provide farmworkers with health and safety information. She implemented many promotores de salud programs to take the information directly to workers in the fields on pesticide safety and other topics including asthma, drinking water safety and sanitation, lead poisoning, and grassroots advocacy. These projects were funded by a variety of agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health, and took place in Arizona, Oregon, California, Texas and other states.

Since 1984, Farmworker Justice has worked with the federally-funded Migrant Health Program to improve access to and quality of care for farmworkers. Shelley worked hard to ensure that health care service providers were aware of the many hazards farmworkers face in the field, especially pesticide exposure, as well as about their rights under the law.

We are currently developing projects to continue this work, including evaluation of new methods of testing for pesticide exposure, pesticide safety training for indigenous farmworkers, and a collaboration with worker advocates, growers and regulators to improve pesticide safety training in Florida. We will continue to provide technical assistance to migrant health centers on occupational and environmental health policy, as well as work at the forefront of efforts to reform pesticide policy.