Agriculture Worker Health Research
Agriculture Worker Health and Safety
The Agriculture (Ag) industry has the third highest rate for fatal work injuries in the U.S. with 453 per 100,000 full time workers. 1 The work is characterized by manual labor with a workforce comprised of mostly Hispanic, Spanish-speaking males. 2 These workers are exposed to a wide range of hazards including chemicals, dust, dangerous equipment, noise, and confined spaces.
To address these issues, Dr. David Douphrate, a licensed physical therapist with a PhD, researches various aspects of worker safety in agricultural industries. He has been working with dairy farms for about ten years, evaluating musculoskeletal disorders and worker health among dairy farm employees. The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among dairy parlor workers is as high as 76%, with the most complaints involving shoulder and neck pain. 3
Dr. Anabel Rodriguez also works with ag workers, focusing on improving occupational health, safety, and well-being among Spanish and Indigenous-speaking workers in rural areas. Her work concentrates on identifying and preventing tuberculosis and influenza as well as vaccine access, utilization, hesitancy and systemic barriers. Dr. Rodriguez also studies social determinants of health associated with agricultural occupations.
Similarly, Dr. Douphrate and Dr. Rodriguez have investigated the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among loggers, who are subject to extended exposure to whole-body vibration, repetitive movements, and awkward postures. In the past, training for new workers in the field was often limited to demonstrative on-the-job training. However, the proliferation of technology and devices in industrial settings has promoted better safety awareness. Dr. Douphrate has developed training tools and assessed their effectiveness for safety training among the agricultural worker population.
More information on Dr. Douphrate's ag worker health research, the implication of his findings, and the future of ag worker health with technology's rapid advances, listen to his Work Factors Podcast.
For more information on agriculture worker health research, contact Dr. David Douphrate at douphrate@tamu.edu or Dr. Anabel Rodriguez at anabelr@tamu.edu.
1 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2021. “Number and rate of fatal work injuries, by private industry sector.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/number-and-rate-of-fatal-work-injuries-by-industry.htm
2 Rodriguez, A., Hagevoort, G. R., Leal, D., Pompeii, L., & Douphrate, D. I. (2018). Using mobile technology to increase safety awareness among dairy workers in the United States. Journal of Agromedicine, 23(4), 315–326.
3 Oyama, S., Sosa, A., Campbell, R., Ortega, C., & Douphrate, D. I. (2017). Evaluation of upper body kinematics and muscle activity during milking attachment task. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 61, 101-106.