Citation

Scott E, Weichelt B, Lincoln J. J. Agromed. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/1059924X.2022.2148032

PMID

36384403

Abstract

For injury epidemiologists, the hunt for data is an ongoing detective story. While there is a thrill in the chase, there is even more satisfaction in using those data to drive important public health research and programming. The size of the U.S. agriculture workforce and the declining number of work-related agricultural injuries made annual data collection costly. Therefore, in 2015 the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) discontinued interagency agreements with Department of Labor (DOL) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to collect national agricultural worker injury data and developed a plan to seek alternative methods to obtain quality agricultural injury surveillance data. However, those means were not the only tool to gather agricultural injury data, and many alternative efforts persisted.1 The ethos of the new model seeks to engage with extramural partners to fill the many identified gaps in agricultural injury data. While some may long for the 'good old days' of the national injury surveys, we recognize several factors make such endeavors impractical.

Improved agricultural injury surveillance is framed by two factors: overall efforts to improve occupational injury surveillance for all industries, and targeted efforts that focus on why the agriculture industry is undercounted in many existing occupational injury surveillance efforts. A 2018 National Academies' report on "A Smarter Surveillance System for Occupational Safety and Health in the 21st Century", jointly commissioned by NIOSH, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), emphasized the role of working collectively to address the myriad issues.2 Further, a NIOSH-commissioned RAND report assessed the "feasibility and desirability" of agricultural surveillance activities given current agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AgFF) program resources and priorities.3

So where do we go from here? Collectively and collaboratively onward and upward. Although challenges exist, we have realized that change will never come unless we start to take action. For several years, an agricultural injury Surveillance Working Group (SWG) has been adding volunteer members, while growing to meet the special demands of injury surveillance in this high-risk industry. This SWG meets quarterly to network, share methods, and collaborate. Recently, the SWG completed a review of the seven major implementation goals that NIOSH has outlined as a path forward for injury surveillance...

Language: en