"Safety pays, a growing number of companies find. Safety and productivity, once viewed as antagonistic, have become bedfellows. Some companies say better safety practices improve morale, boost output, trim worker compensation costs, and strengthen public relations." [Wall Street Journal, January 29, 1991]
While managing for safe operations yields its own reward to growers and workers, state and federal laws add to employers' motives for providing a safe, healthful workplace. Senate Bill 198, which amended the California Labor Code in late 1989, added to employers' specific obligations for injury prevention. Coupled with rising costs for workers' compensation insurance, this legislation has intensified interest and activity on the farm safety front.
The longstanding if small DANR Farm Safety Program has been greatly augmented by a five-year grant from the National Institute for Safety and Occupational Health (NIOSH) to create an Agricultural Health and Safety Center at UC Davis. In a recent newsletter, William Steinke, Director of the Farm Safety Program, lists safety training videos and films available for free loan (see "Resources" section, pages 13 and 14).
SB198 directed the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to issue by January 1991 a more comprehensive general standard governing worksite safety. The new regulation requires every employer to establish and document (those with less than 10 employees are exempt from documentation mandate) by July 1, 1991, an effective injury and illness prevention program containing, at minimum: (1) identification of the person responsible for implementation; (2) a system for ensuring program compliance; (3) a system for communicating with employees on health and safety matters; (4) procedures for identifying and evaluating workplace hazards; (5) a procedure to investigate workplace injury or illness; (6) methods for correcting hazardous conditions; and (7) safety training for employees. Farmers are encouraged to direct questions about the requirements to local Cal/OSHA representatives or to Richard Jones, Cal/OSHA Consultation, 395 Oyster Point Blvd., 3rd Fl., Wing C, Rm. 325, South San Francisco, CA 94080.
University Extension, Davis, has conducted a series of half-day workshops on "Complying with Cal/OSHA's Injury Prevention Standard in the Agricultural Workplace." Funded as part of the NIOSH grant, these sessions were held in six cities from late April to early May.
APMP staff have conducted and participated in several meetings to help farmers strengthen their safety programs, with an eye on the July 1 deadline for complying with SB198 requirements. A workshop last February in Stockton, organized by Farm Advisor Gregory Billikopf and Lupe Sandoval of the Agricultural Workers' Health Center, covered the main points of the law, means of controlling liability, hazard evaluation, causes and investigation of accidents, worker safety training, discipline policies in the safety program, incentives to reduce accidents, safety committees, workers' compensation, medical questions, and program documentation. A free booklet, Written Injury and Illness Prevention Program, includes abstracts of many of the presentations, and lists the speakers and their phone numbers (see "Resources").
Steve Sutter has held safety workshops for growers since last August and has developed references to aid in program design and documentation. Written Accident and Illness Prevention Programs and Selected Safety Orders Affecting Agricultural Employers are both available at no charge (see "Resources"). An upcoming seminar on Establishing Accident and Illness Prevention Programs is the second of two this spring co-sponsored by UCCE and Farm Bureau in Tulare and Fresno counties. Scheduled for June 20 at the UC West Side Field Station in Five Points, the program is much the same as one held in Visalia on May 10, including presentations on understanding and living with SB198 requirements, establishing and practicing a safety policy, and pesticide safety (see "Future Events, page 15)
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