Project Number: 9277047 Project Title: Workplace Hazards to Children and Adolescents in Agricultural Work Settings Division: DART Project Officer (PO): Thomas R. Waters PO Degree: Ph.D. PO Area of Expertise (scientific discipline): Biomechanics and Ergonomics Project Start Date: 10/1/1997 Project End Date: 9/30/2000 Total Budget over the Project Period: $1,127,468 Goal/Sub-Goal: Priority Populations/Protection of Children on Farms Challenge/Issue: Agriculture and farm work is one of the few industries in which children and adolescents are considered an integral component of the workforce, yet these jobsites are one of the most hazardous places to work in the U.S. It has been estimated that, in 1998, there were nearly two million youth under 20 years of age who lived or worked on a farm (Meyers and Hendricks, 2001). Little research, however, has been conducted on the risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) for youth and adolescents working in agriculture. The few previous studies that have evaluated the risk of MSDs among youth workers have shown that many jobs performed by youth and adolescents on farms would be considered high risk for low back disorders for adults (Allread et al., 2003). The risk of MSDs is likely even greater for youth and adolescents who perform these jobs. Results from this project will assist occupational safety and health experts in prevention of workrelated musculoskeletal disorders for children who work in agriculture. This project also addresses the NIOSH R2P special emphasis program by translating information obtained in prior studies into clear priorities for the development and implementation of ergonomic interventions for preventing musculoskeletal disorders among youth who working in agriculture. This project addresses the NORA strategic goal of reducing musculoskeletal disorders for workers and the NIOSH strategic goal of reducing workers risk of injury at the workplace. Activities: This progam of research has encompassed several individual projects. These include: (1) In 1999, a literature review was conducted to examine what was known about the potential risk of MSDs for youth working in agriculture; (2) In 1999, a project was intiated to conduct a series of focus groups with farm parents, farm youth, and farm employers to obtain information about perceptions about risk of MSDs for youth working on farms and high risk tasks; (3) In 2000, a project was initiated to develop and evaluate a clinic-based surveillance system for documenting ag-related MSD cases for youth; (4) In 2001, a project was initatiated focusing on development of a biomechanical model for assessing the physical stress for youth performing manual material handling jobs on farms; (5) In 2001, a project was intiated for assessing the risk of low back pain associated with various manual material handling tasks performed by youth on farms; (6) In 2002, a conference was organized to seek input from experts on research gaps for prevention of MSDs for youth working in agriculture; (7) In 2002, a study was conducted
to obtain information about hours of work from youth working on farms; (8) In 2002, a project was intitiated to compare bone mineral content and bone stiffness in farm youth versus non-farm youth to determine whether there may be early indicatiors for potential long term effects farm youth due to stiffer bones resulting from heavy physical labor on farms. Outputs: Significant findings: 1. Musculoskeletal disorders are a problem for youth working on farms. 2. A high percentage of jobs performed by youth on farms are high risk for low back pain 3. A clinic-based surveillance system will be most effective if broadly applied and if the system includes chiorpractors. Papers and Reports Kidd P. and Draime J. Non-traumatic, work-related, musculoskeletal disorders in farm youth. Unpublished final report, NIOSH Contract #79278284, 1998. Waters T., Children in Agriculture: Ergonomic Issues. Paper presented at the North American Guidelines for Children in Agriculture symposium, New Orleans, LA., March 15-18, 1998. Bartels S., Niederman B., and Waters T.R. Job hazards for musculoskeletal disorders for youth working on farms. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health 6(3): 191-201, 2000. . Intermediate Outcomes: Published papers have served as the basis for subsequent grants and development of follow-on research proposals. Findings have also provided the impetus for funding research on the topic of prevention of MSDs for youth working in agriculture. End Outcomes: This series of studies has significantly increased public awareness of the potential risks for youth working on farms. Results of the studies showed what tasks typically performed by youth on farms were high risk of low back pain and what barriers must be overcome in order to get the public to adopt the recommendations. Current projects are aimed at identifying and evaluating simple solutions for many of the high risk jobs. It is too early to determine whether the program has resulted in reduction of hazardous exposures. External Factors: The lack of recognition of the problem by the public and the lack of a systematic surveillance system for tracking the magnitude of non-traumatic musculoskeletal disorders (e.g., back, shoulder, and hand/arm disorders) for youth working in agriculture will make it difficult to objectively determine the effectiveness of our efforts. Without adequate surveillance data, it is not possible to obtain a true assessment of the current magnitude of the health problem, let alone determine the effectiveness of any targeted interventions we may propose. These barriers will continue to make it difficult to address this significant potential occupational health problem.
Future Directions: One of the most obvious gaps is the lack of any national surveillance program to track cases of work-related MSDs in youth working in agriculture. In focus groups including both farm parents and farm youth, participants indicated that MSDs could be a problem, but there is no systematic collection of this type of data. Moreover, it is diffcult to determine the potential long range impact of heavy physical work on farm workers who grow up performing farm work from a very early age. Future efforts are currently underway to develop training programs for youth focusing on identifying tasks with high risk of MSDs and how to reduce the risk by using ergonomic principles and ergonomic interventions.