The Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety has posted its final report of a needs assessment from people involved in all aspects of agriculture, fisheries, and forestry industries in the Southeast.
Download the needs assessment report.
The needs assessment’s results will help guide the center’s research, outreach, and communication strategies on important issues within agriculture, fisheries, and forestry.
Data for the needs assessment were collected between May 30 to July 24, 2017. More than 110 individuals completed the survey, and represented Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico. Many of the participants were from Extension (47%), followed by non-profit/worker organizations (21%), academia (12%), and industry (12%). Stakeholders from public agencies and regulatory agencies made up 4% of participants, respectively.
Heat stress and pesticide issues were both at the top of stakeholders’ concerns for farmworkers, listed as being “extremely critical” and most frequently cited as urgent issues. Access to healthcare and injuries from equipment were also highly-ranked as extremely critical issues. Health and safety education was the most frequently listed strategy employed by stakeholders to address agricultural worker health and safety.
In fisheries, stakeholders responded that access to healthcare was an extremely critical issue affecting seafood workers. Extremely critical issues, as ranked by forestry sector stakeholders, included injuries from equipment and transportation accidents in work vehicles.
