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PANUPS: Hazards of Farm Work
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P A N U P S
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Pesticide Action Network
North America
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http://www.panna.org/panna/
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April 7, 1997
Agricultural Wage Workers Continue to Suffer
According to a new report from the International Labour
Organization, 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 recognized
as having one of the best reporting systems, the process
probably identifies only a small fraction of pesticide-
related illnesses. This is due primarily to two reasons: a)
many acute cases of pesticide poisoning may escape detection
and b) the system does not include monitoring for chronic
illnesses. One analyst estimated that up to 80% of pesticide
illnesses are unreported in California.
Agriculture is ranked by the U.S. 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
laborers. Women represent an increasing proportion of the
agricultural workforce, now accounting for 20-30% of total
agricultural waged employment. Child labor in some developing
countries is as high as 30% of the workforce. The ILO report
found that many millions of these workers earn wages that
place them of the bottom rung of the rural poverty ladder --
below minimum subsistence level, in spite of rising
agricultural trade and labor 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, ill-adapted to local weather
conditions and hence little used, 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.
A sample survey of 45 countries from all regions shows that
real wages declined for agricultural workers in 18 of the
countries, with no substantial changes in eight others. Only
six of the 45 countries (Argentina, Colombia, Cameroon,
Nigeria, Philippines and Sweden) showed a strong real wage
increase of 30% or more, whereas 13 countries showed a drop
of 30% or more.
Recommendations from the ILO report include the need for
strong labor-intensive growth in agriculture stimulated by
investments in infrastructure. The report also recommends a
major drive in support of more and broader collective
bargaining for farmworkers and a sustained effort to improve
working conditions, from transport to occupational safety and
health. Child labor must be sharply reduced, and basic social
security benefits must be extended to agricultural wage
workers.
Source: Pesticides News 35, March 1997 (The quarterly journal
of The Pesticides Trust, Eurolink Centre, 49 Effra Road SW2
1BZ, London, UK; pesttrust@gn.apc.org). Preventing Pesticide-
related Illness in California Agriculture by William Pease,
et al., 1993, University of California, Berkeley.
Contact: International Labour Organization, Vincent House,
Vincent Square, London SW1P 2NB, UK.
International Labour Organization, CH-1211, Geneva 22,
Switzerland; phone (41-22) 799 6111; fax (41-22) 798 8685;
email brodien@ilo.org; http://www.ilo.org.
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