Journal of agromedicine
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Animal-related injuries are among the most common occupational injuries in agriculture. Despite the large number of documented animal-related injuries in dairy farming, the issue has received relatively limited attention in the scientific literature. The farmers' own perspectives and views on risks and safety during livestock handling and what they think are effective ways of preventing injuries are valuable for the future design of effective interventions. ⋯ However, even though safety is acknowledged by the farmers as an important and relevant issue, in the end safety is often forgotten or not prioritized. One concern is that farmers are willing to take calculated risks to save money or time. In situations where they work alone with high stress levels and under economic distress, safety issues are easily given low priority.
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Journal of agromedicine · Jan 2009
Migrant farmworker field and camp safety and sanitation in eastern North Carolina.
Migrant farmworkers are exposed to numerous workplace hazards, with pesticides being a ubiquitous occupational exposure. This analysis describes farmworker experiences of field and camp safety conditions and their safety behaviors, and delineates farmworker characteristics associated with safety conditions and behaviors. Data were collected from 255 migrant farmworkers up to 4 times at monthly intervals during the 2007 agricultural season in eastern North Carolina. ⋯ Further research needs to account for social and cultural factors. Regulations should be compared with pesticide metabolite levels to measure their effectiveness. More effort is needed to enforce existing regulations.
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Journal of agromedicine · Jan 2009
'Train the trainer' model: implications for health professionals and farm family health in Australia.
Australia is a large country with 60% of land used for agricultural production. Its interior is sparsely populated, with higher morbidity and mortality recorded in rural areas, particularly farmers, farm families, and agricultural workers. Rural health professionals in addressing health education gaps of farming groups have reported using behavioralist approaches. ⋯ This paper highlights the success of SFFTTT as an effective tool in enhancing primary health practice in rural and remote settings. The program is benefiting not only drought ravaged farmers but assisting rural nurses, health agencies, and health boards to engage with farm families at a level not identified previously. Furthermore, nurses and health professionals are now embracing a more 'farmer-centered model of care.'
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Journal of agromedicine · Jan 2009
Biomonitoring state of the science: a report on a panel presentation and round table discussion.
The paper summarizes an open panel discussion and breakout session by scientists and lay participants that focused on new approaches to identifying exposure to pesticides in humans during the New Paths: Health and Safety in Western Agriculture conference, November 11-13, 2008. Featured were reports on the available results from the Washington State Cholinesterase Monitoring Program, a statewide program for handlers of class I and II organophosphate (OP) and carbamate pesticides, identification of adducts to inhibited cholinesterase by use of protein digestion and mass spectrometry and antibody-based methods, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for pyrethroids. ⋯ Breakout discussants pointed out the benefits of such a proposal but also pointed to some of its weaknesses. Several scientists suggested that a requirement that public release of analytical methods and identity of metabolites and methods for synthesizing metabolites would provide more flexibility to the academy in conducting studies of potential human exposure.