ABSTRACT

Objective: The study examines how wildfire smoke exposure may impact health and safety in the agricultural workplace.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with agricultural employers and focus group discussions were held with farmworkers in three regions of California.

Results: Agricultural employers had varying knowledge about and experience responding to poor air quality due to wildfire smoke. Respirators or masks were not mentioned as a potential protective measure when describing their safety practices. Farmworkers reported experiencing poor air quality due to wildfire smoke, although knowledge of safety precautions varied. Farmworkers reported employer and supervisors’ attitudes toward safety as having the greatest impact on the implementation of workplace safety measures.

Conclusion: Adapting health promotion and workplace safety strategies to meet the multiple vulnerabilities and diverse needs of farmworkers is critical to successful implementation of workplace protection and safety measures. Given limited familiarity with the topic, wildfire smoke exposure resources are needed to assist employers and supervisors in their compliance with a new wildfire smoke safety regulation in California. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore agricultural employer and farmworker perceptions of the health and safety impacts of wildfire smoke and workplace exposure.

摘要

目标：该研究调查了野火烟雾暴露如何影响农业工作场所的健康和安全。

方法：对农业雇主进行半结构式访谈，并与加利福尼亚三个地区的农场工人进行焦点小组讨论。

结果：农业雇主对因野火烟雾造成的空气质量差做出反应的知识和经验各不相同。在描述其安全实践时，没有提到呼吸器或口罩是一种潜在的保护措施。农场工人报告说，由于野火烟雾，空气质量很差，尽管安全预防措施的知识各不相同。农场工人报告雇主和主管对安全的态度对工作场所安全措施的实施影响最大。

结论：调整健康促进和工作场所安全策略以满足农场工人的多重脆弱性和多样化需求对于成功实施工作场所保护和安全措施至关重要。鉴于对该主题的熟悉程度有限，需要野火烟雾暴露资源来帮助雇主和主管遵守加利福尼亚州新的野火烟雾安全法规。据我们所知，这是第一项探讨农业雇主和农场工人对野火烟雾和工作场所暴露对健康和安全影响的看法的研究。