Pesticide hazard for agricultural workers

Pesticide hazard for agricultural workers

According to a new report from the International Labour Organisation, pesticide poisoning remains a daily occurrence among agricultural workers in developing countries.

The report, "Wage Workers in Agriculture: Conditions of Employment and Work", notes that up to 14% of all occupational injuries in the agricultural sector and 10% of all fatal injuries can be attributed to pesticides.

The report states that establishing a precise link between agricultural injuries and direct or indirect exposure to agrochemicals is often difficult due to poor reporting and difficulty in establishing a correct diagnosis.

In some areas, workers may not have direct access to medical care, as hospitals and doctors are many miles away. In addition, general practitioners may often underestimate work-related poisonings because symptoms are non-specific and effects are often cumulative.

Even in countries or regions with good reporting systems, under-reporting is likely. In California, which is recognised as having one of the best reporting systems, one analyst estimated that up to 80% of pesticide illnesses are unreported.

Agriculture is ranked by the US National Safety Council as among the three most hazardous occupations in the country — the death rate was 44 per 100,000 in 1991.

In Washington state, the insurance claim rate by agricultural workers was approximately 50% higher than by non-agricultural workers. Of the claims, 29% were for various forms of dermatitis and 23% for systemic effects due to toxic materials.

There are approximately 1.1 billion workers active in agricultural production worldwide. Nearly half are wage labourers. Women represent an increasing proportion of the agricultural work force, now accounting for 20-30% of total agricultural waged employment. Child labour in some developing countries is as high as 30% of the work force.

The ILO report found that many millions of these workers earn wages below minimum subsistence level, in spite of rising agricultural trade and labour productivity around the world.

Poverty and poor conditions intensify the problems of working with pesticides, making safe handling of hazardous chemicals almost impossible.

The report argues, for example, that lack of protective equipment is a contributing factor to pesticide-related illness. Improper use of protective equipment through inadequate training seems frequent, as is inadequate maintenance of spraying equipment.
[From Pesticide Action Network North America Updates Service.]

From GLW issue 273