Agriculture Worker Health Reaserch

The Ag industry has the third highest rate for fatal work injuries in the U. S. with 453 per 100,000 full time workers. For nonfatal injuries, the ag industry has a rate of 180 nonfatal injuries 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 Ag workers are exposed to a wide range of hazards including exposure to noise, chemicals, dust, dangerous equipment, noise, and confined spaces.  

To move the needle in this field Dr. David Douphrate researches various aspects of worker safety in ag industries.  

Douphrate has been working with dairy farms for about ten years to evaluate the musculoskeletal disorders and worker health of employees of dairy farms. The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among dairy parlor workers is as high as 76% with the pain in the shoulders and neck receiving the most complaints. 3  

Similarly, Douphrate has investigated the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among loggers who are subject to extended exposure to whole-body vibration, repetitive movements and awkward postures. 4  

In the past, training for new workers in the field was often limited to demonstrative on-the-job training, but the proliferation of technology and devices in industrial settings has helped promote better safety awareness. Douphrate has developed training tools and assessed effectiveness of the new tools for safety training among the ag worker population.  

For more information on agriculture worker health research, contact Dr. David Douphrate at douphrate@tamu.edu .