The Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (SCCAHS) brought together scientists from the University of Florida, Florida State University, University of South Florida, Emory University, and Georgia Tech University for the inaugural Heat-Related Illness State of the Science Meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida, on October 25-26.

“We are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of heat stress on workers, particularly those who are working outdoors,” said SCCAHS director and director of the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute Glenn Morris. “This is a major concern for the agricultural industry.”

The State of the Science Meeting provided an opportunity for professionals from various fields to come together and learn about the unique challenges farmworkers, along with other outdoor workers, face when dealing with heat-related illnesses and what experts say about possible solutions, Morris said.

Presenters spoke about the use of heat reducing technologies, medical recovery protocols, acclimatization programs and culturally appropriate educational efforts. For example, Mike Sawka from Georgia Tech University spoke about advances the military has made in the use of cooling gels that can be applied to the skin to alleviate heat stress.

Eric Coris, a sports medicine researcher from the University of South Florida, mentioned scientific technology options like the use of a Polar Pad, a specially refrigerated enclosed space that was tested with football players. However, sometimes a low technical solution could be just as effective, as for example using a bucket of ice and a sheet to wrap around an affected person, Coris said.

Researchers with SCCAHS, Linda McCauley and Joe Grzywacz, presented research about the specific  impact of heat stress on farmworkers.

McCauley, Dean of Nursing at Emory University, discussed how her team has been examining farmworkers’ physiologic responses to heat stress in Florida through the use of biomonitoring equipment.

Grzywacz, chair of Florida State University’s Department of Family and Child Sciences, explained how his team is working to determine the effectiveness of training curricula about heat illness for immigrant farmworkers.

“We felt it was time to bring experts together to begin to focus on what we know about agriculture specifically, which is what this center focuses on, but also bring together other researchers who focus on other aspects of heat stress,” Morris said. “It is important to see what type of answers and responses other researchers have developed to address heat stress and see how we can work collectively to alleviate heat-related issues in agriculture.”

Heat stress is an occupational issue for various occupations, such as farmworkers, athletes and military personnel. The conference was a way to initiate conversation and develop collaboration across disciplines, said Tracy Irani, principal investigator for the center’s outreach core and chair of UF’s Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences.

“For the Heat-Related Illness State of the Science Meeting, we are trying to connect researchers from a variety of disciplines who work on heat-related illnesses but with different target populations, including farmworkers, athletes and military,” Irani said.

Attendees included researchers and students from several agencies and universities, including UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and a representative from a farmworker organization. Attendees discussed the diverse impact heat stress has on workers in the region’s agriculture, fishing and forestry sectors.

“I think the uniqueness and value of this event is that we are acknowledging heat stress is a cross-cutting issue and bringing together researchers to compare what they are doing with others who are working in agriculture, fishing and forestry sectors and with those populations,” Irani said.

Meeting attendees also had the opportunity to hear from National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health scientific program official Steve Dearwent about funding opportunities offered through the agency.

SCCAHS is the most recent center established by NIOSH that focuses on agricultural health and safety.

“SCCAHS is the newest NIOSH-supported center addressing agriculture, forestry and fishing occupational safety issues,” Dearwent said. “This center provides better coverage for agriculture, forestry and fishing issues, specifically in Florida, which has a large agricultural industry and large occupational workforce.

The SCCAHS addresses occupational safety and health needs related to agriculture, fishing and forestry in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

“This is a relatively new center looking at agriculture, fishing and forestry safety. This is a region that has not had a center for some years, but we think is critically important, particularly as we begin to deal with issues, such as heat stress,” Morris said.

SCCAHS Heat-related Illness State of the Science Meeting from PIE CENTER on Vimeo.

Speaker Presentations

Candi Ashley, Acclimatization, Decay, and Re-Acclimatization https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ashley.pdf

Thomas Bernard, Occupational Heat Stress Exposure, Assessment: Limits on Sustainable Exposures https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bernard.pdf

Michael Sawka, Exertional Heat Illness: Physiology, Pathology, and Modifying Factors https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Sawka1.pdf

Joseph Grzywacz, Attending to Heat Illness & Pesticide Exposure among Farmworkers: Results from an Attention Placebo-Controlled Design https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Grzywacz1.pdf

Vasu Misra, Heat related illness in a changing climate and demography of Florida https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/misra1.pdf

Rebecca Lopez, Management & Return to Work/Activity Following Exertional Heat Illness https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lopez1.pdf

Linda McCauley, The Girasoles (Sunflower) Study: Exploring the Physiologic Heat Stress Response https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/McCauley.pdf

Eric Coris, Heat Illness Prevention in Athletes https://www.sccahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Coris1.pdf

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Jose Perez, senior manager for health and safety for The Wonderful Company, shared his experience on how to support and create a culture of safety in the agricultural workplace. His presentation took place on Nov. 15 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at UF’s J. Wayne Reitz Union, Room G320.

Perez discussed how he incorporates servant leadership to promote a safe work environment that is employee-driven. He will also shared how leaders at different levels of The Wonderful Company are empowered to improve workplace safety and help grow a culture of safety in the industry.

The Wonderful Company is a food and agribusiness company which grows, harvests, bottles, packages and markets a diverse range of agricultural products, including fruits, nuts, flowers, water, wines and juices. The company began a culture journey towards improving workplace safety in 2015, Perez said. The Wonderful Company’s diverse holdings make it the world’s largest grower of tree nuts, America’s largest citrus grower and the world’s largest flower delivery service with the Teleflora network of florists.

Researchers with the SCCAHS work to promote occupational health and safety among the 240,000 farms, estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be operating in the region, their operators, families, employees and contractors, as well as those in the forestry and fishery industries.

SCCAHS is part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH) Agricultural Health and Safety Initiative. SCCAHS explores and addresses the occupational safety and health needs of people working in agriculture, fishing and forestry in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. 

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The goal of the new center is to conduct research and educational activities designed to promote occupational health and safety among Florida’s 47,000 farm operators and their families, as well as their employees and contractors.

“Much of the data about Florida’s agricultural safety and health is over a decade old,” said J. Glenn Morris, M.D., M.P.H., director of UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute and a professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions and the UF College of Medicine. “We need to add to the body of knowledge about farming, fishing and forestry workers in the region, so we proposed establishing a center that will facilitate collaboration with researchers throughout the Southeast.”

Morris is the director of the center, called the Southeastern and Coastal Center for Agricultural Safety and Health, or SEC-CAgSH. It will be the 11th U.S. Agricultural Safety and Health center sponsored by NIOSH.

While the University of Florida is the hosting institution, researchers from the University of South Florida, Florida State University, Emory University and Florida A&M have all agreed to work together on projects aiming to better understand the region’s occupational safety and health needs. NIOSH has awarded the grant to UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions. Researchers from several UF colleges will participate.

“This center provides an exciting opportunity for UF faculty to use their scientific expertise to address vital public health questions that will enhance the safety and well-being of people whose work is critical to our agricultural and seafood industries,” said Michael G. Perri, Ph.D., dean of the College of Public Health and Health Professions.

Faculty members from the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or IFAS, are also involved in the project.

“Protecting the health of those who provide the labor for the $155 billion-a-year agriculture and natural resources industry has long been a focus area of IFAS research and Extension,” said Jack Payne, Ph.D., senior vice president of agriculture and natural resources. “UF is particularly qualified to address such complexities because of the comprehensive expertise it has.

“The partnership between IFAS research and Extension, PHHP and EPI will create a powerful interdisciplinary focus on agricultural safety and health that will provide the industry with the tools and training to maintain a healthy workforce,’’ Payne said.

The center will provide an opportunity to expand UF’s current training and outreach programs throughout the state and eventually the Southeast region, while developing new educational materials and methods of dissemination for diverse audiences.

Several projects are already underway. Andrew Kane, Ph.D., an associate professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of environmental and global health, serves as the center’s associate director and lead investigator of the research project focused on Gulf seafood worker safety.

Seafood industry workers are exposed to some of the greatest occupational risks nationally, according to Kane. While there are numerous anecdotal reports of injuries, very little data exists on worker health and safety in this largely self-employed and self-insured population. Kane’s team seeks to extend current knowledge about everyday hazards and risks in northeastern Gulf fisheries through surveys, direct observations, community engagement and expanded academic and community partnerships. The team will then develop, implement and assess community-based training activities aimed at reducing injuries.

Gregory Glass, Ph.D., and Joseph Grzywacz, Ph.D., will also lead projects at the center. Glass, a professor of geography and a member of the Emerging Pathogens Institute, will use remote sensing technology to estimate the levels of pesticide and herbicide usage in Florida’s croplands. Grzywacz, a professor in Florida State University’s College of Human Sciences and the chair of the department of family and child sciences, will develop and test whether safety and education materials produce changes in safety behaviors among Latino farmworkers.

Tracy Irani, Ph.D., a professor in UF/IFAS and the chair of the department of family, youth, and community sciences, will oversee the center’s outreach and community engagement efforts.

“Our role in the center will entail working with communities to identify the particular needs that are specific to agricultural production in Florida and the Southeast,” Irani said. “We also plan to develop new materials and utilize new media to reach our target populations in new ways.”

Agriculture, fishing, and forestry comprise a multibillion-dollar industry in the state of Florida. Florida is the second largest producer of fresh fruit and vegetable crops in the nation. Oranges alone generate more than $1.3 billion of annual sales, ranking as Florida’s second most important single commodity after greenhouse/nursery products, according to the USDA. The farm value of fresh market tomatoes, the state’s third most important commodity, averages about $500 million annually.

The production and harvesting of these and other specialty crops grown in Florida depends on agricultural workers who produce and harvest citrus, fresh market vegetables, strawberries, blueberries, and melons, as well as ornamental plants for the landscape and environmental horticulture sector.

According to a UF/IFAS study, one acre of tomatoes is estimated to require more than 200 labor hours to plant, grow, harvest and pack for the fresh market. One acre of citrus harvesting requires between 50 and 60 hours of manual labor.

November 30, 2016.
Source: ufhealth.org

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