Agrosecurity
Educating Hispanic Landscape Workers
Eighty percent of the landscape companies, greenhouses and nurseries employ Hispanic workers totaling nearly 35,000 employees in the Green Industry. Language and cultural barriers hamper productivity, efficiency and safety in the industry. The routine use of pesticides, heavy equipment and tools in their daily activities makes this group particularly prone to mismanagement of products and misuse of tools giving rise to work-related accidents.
To train, create awareness and implement sustainable safety practices among landscape Hispanic workers, UGA plant pathologists received a $105,000 grant from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Susan Hardwood Training Program. A 100-page, bilingual manual entitled "Landscape Safety Training Manual for Hispanic Workers" has been developed. A total of 323 participants have been trained throughout the state. In all the training venues there was a 100 percent improvement in the knowledge and application of safety practices, according to comparisons between pre and post tests. One landscape company wrote, "The safety precautions instructed and addressed … have made such an impact to not only the employees but to the entire company."
Source: Alfredo Martinez, Department of Plant Pathology (2006)