Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program
What are our priorities?
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program (AgFF) works with partners in industry, labor, trade associations, professional and service organizations, and academia. The program currently focuses on these areas:
- Conducting research to understand and decrease exposure to hazards that cause disease and injury in AgFF industries.
- Developing and evaluating control measures and technologies to protect workers.
- Producing educational, outreach, and prevention programs to guide workers and employers.
What do we do?
- Provide leadership and coordination for intra- and extramural research and outreach efforts nationwide, including 12 Centers for Agricultural Safety and Health, Commercial Fishing Safety Research and Training Grants, and other NIOSH-funded projects.
- Improve understanding through translation of science and language, engaging formats, and responsiveness to the changing needs of the workforce.
- Advance research-to-practice through active partnerships with stakeholders.
- Sponsor regional, national, and international conferences and sessions to promote research findings and identify research needs.
- Coordinate a multi-state pesticide poisoning case-based surveillance system through the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risk Pesticide Program.
What have we accomplished?
- Completed an analysis of workers’ compensation claims on mid-sized farming operations in 14 states, providing economic impact data to motivate future injury prevention efforts.
- Partnered with Texas hospital and social service agencies to offer a “Docside” health clinic for Vietnamese American commercial fishmen (>150), some reporting the clinic as their first time obtaining care in decades.
- Provided technical expertise for Pacific Northwest policymaker and community partners on heat and wildfire smoke exposure to aid in the development of new policies.
- Trained 920 workers during the 2021 Stand‐Up for Grain Safety Week in partnership with the Grain Handling Safety Alliance.
- Published on occupational stress and access to COVID-19 resources, finding the most common stressors among Hispanic/Latino farmworkers were a lack of sleep, distance from family, bad weather, lack of medical care, and long work hours.
- Provided expert testimony for the National Transportation Safety Board’s roundtable to improve commercial fishing safety.
What’s next?
- Co-host the Safety for Emerging Robotics and Autonomous Agriculture Workshop.
- Complete Fishing Forward Podcast, a collaboration of NIOSH Ag Centers, the National Occupational Research Agenda AgFF Sector Council, and other partners, sharing health information and interviews with commercial fishermen.
- Assess stooped postures among agricultural workers during hand weeding and harvesting activities to develop best practices to minimize injury risk.
- Conclude a pilot study on the use of wearable technology to capture health data among logging workers.
- Host an international symposium on ATV/UTV (all-terrain vehicle/utility terrain vehicle) safety in agricultural spaces, which account for 60% of all occupational ATV/UTV fatalities.
Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
At-A-Glance
The Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program provides scientific leader-ship to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses among agricultural, forestry, and fishing workers. This snapshot shows recent accomplishments and upcoming work.
NIOSH AgFF Program & Centers for Agricultural Safety & Health
Average Cost of a Worker’s Compensation Claim, 14 states, 2010-2016
To learn more, visit
www.cdc.gov/niosh/agforfish/
September 2022