Author: Qazaleh Bahramian
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781303152740
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
California's Central Valley is among the most fertile and productive agricultural venues in the United States. Throughout the year, hundreds of agricultural workers labor here. Their work is an indispensable part of a network that brings food to tables throughout the United States and beyond. Each summer, when temperatures in the valley can exceed 100F, agricultural workers face heat related illnesses (HRI), a serious concern. HRI is caused by external and internal heat sources. External heat sources include radiant heat from the sun and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation; the body's own metabolism creates an internal heat source. California's agricultural workers, laboring under the hot summer sun, usually experience both external and internal heat sources. They are, therefore, at risk for HRI: protecting them is an urgent matter. We all know the value of hydration and seeking shelter in shadier areas when possible to reduce heat stress. Modifying clothing can be another simple measure to reduce the risk of HRI to California's agricultural workers. I investigated several key properties of fabrics and clothing. I determined: we can reduce the risk of HRI among California's agricultural workers by encouraging them to change the way they dress for work. My findings include suggestions on materials and clothing styles to reduce heat stress. Garments with lower heat burden and improved comfort are recommended. This research paper details the analysis relied upon to reach my conclusions. I measured and analyzed the air permeability, porosity, water vapor transmission, and color of clothing. Heat loss and thermal insulation properties of the fabrics were measured using a thermal manikin (Joe!) at the Thermal Insulation Laboratory at Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. The results of lab testing and thermal manikin tests are summarized in the body of the thesis.
Author: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.)
Publisher: National Institute on Drug Abuse
ISBN: 9780160946561
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 202
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Book Description
Occupational exposure to heat can result in injuries, disease, reduced productivity, and death. To address this hazard, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has evaluated the scientific data on heat stress and hot environments and has updated the Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Hot Environments [NIOSH 1986a]. This updated guidance includes information about physiological changes that result from heat stress, and relevant studies such as those on caffeine use, evidence to redefine heat stroke, and more. Related products: Weather & Climate collection is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/weather-climate Emergency Management & First Responders can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/emergency-management-first-responders Fire Management collection is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/fire-management
Author: Alondra Judith Vega-Arroyo
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780438289635
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Heat-related illness (HRI) affects a diverse population, including the elderly, children, and people who perform strenuous outdoor activities. HRI occurs when an individual’s thermoregulatory system fails to maintain homeostasis. Human core body temperature is normally regulated within a narrow band between 36-38°C. HRI ranges from mild symptoms, headaches, weakness, dizziness, and vomiting, to more serious conditions, heat stroke and sometimes death. During the summer months, temperatures in California often exceed 35°C where farmworkers work up to 10-12 hours a day under direct sunlight. It is these conditions that put agricultural workers at risk for HRI. Little to no objective physiological research has been conducted among California’s agricultural workers to understand the risk factors that lead to HRI. The small amount of literature that exists suggests that a person being hydrated (or dehydrated) and their work rate are associated to the risk of HRI. This dissertation investigation was conducted using data from the California Heat Illness Prevention Study (CHIPS) conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The first investigation focuses on hydration status and compares characteristics of men and women workers that are likely to make them vulnerable to HRI. It also assesses the type of clothing worn by farmworkers and the differences between male and female choices. We found that women are less likely to be dehydrated than men, despite drinking less on average per kg of weight. We also found that women tend to choose clothing that puts them at risk for HRI based on Cal-OSHA recommendations. The second investigation estimates the clothing insulation of the most common garment choices among men and women. We found that even though workers wear multiple layers of headgear protection (bandanas, baseball caps, wide-brimmed hats), less layers are worn as temperatures increase. Finally, we studied the adjusted associations of environmental conditions, workload, clothing, and hydration with core body temperature of California farm workers. We found that workers who work more intensely during the work shift are more likely to have a core body temperature ≥ 38°C. In addition, in a multiple regression model we found a positive association of ambient temperature and workload with core body temperature, but no association with sex nor hydration status at the end of the shift. This investigation suggests that sex needs to be incorporated in the way preventative HRI training material is delivered and addressed based on clothing insulation between males and females being different. This investigation also suggests other than ambient temperature, which is an obvious risk factor, physical activity was the only independent predictor of core body temperature, and therefore the best factor to modify when the ambient temperature increases to a hazardous level. Preventing HRI in this occupation requires more than just improved training; additional measures to modify behavior are needed.
Author: California. Legislature. Senate. Committee on Food and Agriculture
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural laborers
Languages : en
Pages : 378
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Book Description
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9251305021
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 67
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Book Description
This report reviews the implications of heat stress in working environments in agriculture (with a focus on farming and forestry), how it affects the human body, the risks it poses to human health, how it is measured, how it affects labour productivity, and how it can be managed. Managers often disregard heat stress as an occupational hazard, and workers therefore often have to handle this aspect of the work environment themselves. Heat stress has a negative effect on worker performance, and exposure to severe heat stress can be fatal; nevertheless, it can be greatly reduced with proper work organization and education.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Disaster medicine
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Author: Barry S. Levy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197683312
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 481
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Book Description
This second edition of Climate Change and Public Health comprehensively covers the health impacts of climate change, including heat-related and respiratory disorders, vectorborne and waterborne diseases, malnutrition, mental disorders, and violence. It provides a thorough understanding of the policymaking process and energy, transportation, and agriculture policies for mitigation. It covers health adaptation, sustainable built environments, and nature-based solutions to address climate change. Finally, it describes ways of strengthening public and political support, including communicating the health relevance of climate change, building movements, and promoting climate justice.
Author: Catherine M Goggins
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 98
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Book Description
Growing climate variability, including increasingly frequent and severe heatwaves and warmer nights, increases the risk of heat-related illness (HRI), especially for outdoor and other climate-vulnerable workers. In 2006, following a spike in farm worker fatalities, California became the first state in the nation to pass an occupational heat safety law guaranteeing workers access to water. Using data from the National Agricultural Worker Study (NAWS), which includes survey responses from farm workers throughout the continental United States, I estimate a difference-in-differences model to assess the relationship between the implementation of the law and the provision of water to farm workers in California and in the surrounding region. I find only limited evidence of a relationship between California's HRI prevention law and the provision of water to farm workers.
Author: Sarah Bronwen Horton
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520283279
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 264
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Book Description
"They Leave Their Kidneys in the Fields takes the reader on an ethnographic tour of the melon and corn harvesting fields in California's Central Valley to understand why farmworkers die at work each summer. Laden with captivating detail of farmworkers' daily work and home lives, Horton examines how U.S. immigration policy and the historic exclusion of farmworkers from the promises of liberalism has made migrant farmworkers what she calls 'exceptional workers.' She explores the deeply intertwined political, legal, and social factors that place Latino migrants at particular risk of illness and injury in the fields, as well as the patchwork of health care, disability, and Social Security policies that provide them little succor when they become sick or grow old. The book takes an in-depth look at the work risks faced by migrants at all stages of life: as teens, in their middle-age, and ultimately as elderly workers. By following the lives of a core group of farmworkers over nearly a decade, Horton provides a searing portrait of how their precarious immigration and work statuses culminate in preventable morbidity and premature death"--Provided by publisher.
Author: Jared Michael Egbert
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 51
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Book Description
Adverse health effects of extreme heat in occupational settings are substantial, particularly among outdoor workers who perform physical labor. Core body temperature (CT) is a critical indicator of heat strain. Excessive increase in CT negatively affects physical and cognitive performance and can lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. The most accurate locations for measuring CT are the rectum or the esophagus, but the invasiveness of these measurements makes it impractical in field settings. Ingestible pills make it possible to monitor deep body temperatures in field settings. However, these are costly to use on a regular basis, are sensitive to food and fluid intake, and may not be acceptable to all people. Thus, there is a need to be able to non-invasively measure, in real time, accurate CT. Buller et al. developed an algorithm to estimate CT based on heart rate and baseline temperature. There has been little study of the accuracy of the Buller algorithm among working populations such as agricultural workers in field settings or among females and older workers. The overall goal of this project was to assess and apply the Buller algorithm in a field setting among agricultural workers. Aim 1 evaluated the accuracy of the Buller algorithm for estimating CTs and Physiological Strain Indices (PSIs), compared to ‘gold standard’ CT sensor data from an ingestible pill, in a field setting among agricultural workers. Aim 2 examined the effectiveness of a heat prevention intervention by comparing CT and PSI outcomes estimated using the Buller algorithm between the intervention and comparison groups. We expect the CTs and PSIs in the intervention group to be lower than in the comparison group. The first aim of this project leveraged ‘gold standard’ ingestible CT sensor data and Buller algorithm-derived CT estimates that have both been collected across one work shift in 2015 among 35 Washington farmworkers. The Bland-Altman method was used to assess how well the observed CT from the ingestible pill and the estimated CT from the Buller algorithm agreed. Analyses were performed both using 37.1°C and also measured aural temperature +0.27°C as the baseline temperature for the Buller algorithm. A similar analysis for PSI was performed. The second aim of this project built upon data collected as part of a 2019 randomized heat intervention study among 75 Washington farmworkers. In this parent study, the intervention group was trained on heat safety and health precautions and supervisors were provided with a decision support application aimed at heat illness prevention. Workers in the intervention group and in the comparison group, which did not receive heat prevention training or the heat application, were evaluated approximately monthly during the summer harvest season to measure heat strain, and the maximum work shift PSI was calculated using the estimated CT from the Buller algorithm. The association between max work shift PSI and group status was assessed using linear mixed effects models with random effects for workers. For Aim 1, the overall CT bias was -0.14°C with LoA of ±0.76 when 37.1°C was used as the baseline temperature in the Buller algorithm. When measured aural temperature +0.27°C was used as the baseline temperature, the overall bias was -0.085°C with LoA of ±0.90. The PSI had a bias and LoA of -0.29 ±1.59 when the baseline temperature was 37.1°C. When aural temperature +0.27°C was used as the baseline temperature, the overall bias for PSI was -0.15 with LoA of ±1.42. For the heat intervention study in Aim 2, the mean (standard deviation) of the maximum shift PSI for all participants was 4.61 (1.49) and 4.30 (1.53) for the comparison and intervention groups, respectively. The unadjusted linear mixed effects model effect estimate of group status (intervention vs. comparison) with max PSI was -0.26 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.84, 0.31). After adjustment for farm and ambient maximum shift heat index, the effect estimate was -0.13 (95% CI: -0.50, 0.25). Agricultural workers work under heat stress and are at risk for heat-related illness. The Buller algorithm, based only on heart rate and a baseline core temperature, was independently validated. When the Buller algorithm was applied to evaluate the effectiveness of the heat intervention study, intervention versus comparison group status was associated with a lower max PSI, but this was not statistically significant. Further analyses are needed to assess for potential effect modification, including by task type and exertion. The Buller algorithm may be a promising method for estimating CT and PSI in field conditions for research purposes.
