Documents agricultural sector 217 results

"Farmer protests have characterised much of the debate on climate and the environment in the EU in recent years. The protests and the European Commission′s subsequent rollback on environmental requirements for farming have cast doubt on the viability of the European Green Deal (EGD). Work on farms is inherently intertwined with nature. Climate change—through rising temperatures and extreme weather events—is already impacting working conditions. At the same time, agriculture is responsible for 11% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and is a major cause of biodiversity loss. Most research on the EGD has tended to focus on energy-related sectors, with comparatively less research on what it means for sectors like agriculture. This article applies a social law lens to legislation on agriculture in the EU and asks: what does the EGD mean for those who work in agriculture, and, to what extent is a just transition envisioned for the sector? The article is situated within a broader turn in labour law scholarship to examine the labour-nature nexus. It identifies social measures within the EGD, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with a focus on two disadvantaged groups: smallholder farmers and farmworkers. The article argues that there are elements of a just transition in current EU policies and legislation on agriculture, such as income support provisions, targeted measures for young farmers, and the introduction of a social conditionality clause. However, the social dimension of these instruments require further development to strengthen the connection between social concerns on the one hand, and economic and environmental concerns on the other. More fundamentally, the article points to a lack of a coherent vision of what a just transition in agriculture should entail—particularly in terms of its economic model and the position of those most affected, including smallholder farmers and farmworkers. This gap may help in explaining some of the underlying reasons for the farmer protests."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"Objectives This study identified occupations with a marked impact on sick leaves due to respiratory disease.Methods A national sick-leave register containing information on all sick leaves exceeding 14 days, physicians' diagnoses, and the occupational status of all manual and service employees in the private sector in Sweden was studied. Sick-leaves during 1992-1994 (N=210 755) were analyzed with special attention to respiratory disease and occupation.Results Respiratory disease accounted for 4.4% of the total number of sick leaves. The incidence of long-term ({>=90 days) sick leaves due to respiratory disease was 3 times higher in occupations with a high incidence than in those with a low incidence. There was a high correlation (r=0.80) between the incidence of long-term sick leave due to respiratory disease and sick leave due to all other conditions; this finding suggests that market and selection factors may play an important role in determining the overall risk for sick leave in various occupations. The proportion of sick leaves due to long-term respiratory disease out of all long-term disease was compared between occupations. Agricultural workers had a 46% higher proportion of long-term respiratory disease than metal workers. Industrial workers, food industry workers, and painters were also occupations with an increased risk. These findings could not be explained by differences in age or smoking habits.Conclusions Major differences were found among manual and service occupations regarding long-term sick leave due to respiratory disease. Several occupations, in which exposure to respiratory sensitizers and irritants are known to occur, were among those in which workers had an increased risk for long-term respiratory disease."

"OBJECTIVES: A case-referent study with 261 matched pairs was carried out in 8 hospitals of Comunidad Valenciana, Spain, to assess the relation between occupational exposure to pesticides and selected congenital malformations. In this paper, the results concerning paternal exposure are presented.METHODS: The parents of the case patients and the referents were interviewed to collect information about exposure to pesticides and potential confounding variables. Detailed information on direct involvement in the handling of pesticides was collected for the interviewees involved in agricultural activities during a previously defined period in relation to conception and pregnancy. Exposure data were reviewed by 2 experts who assigned ordinal scores for the probability and intensity of exposure to pesticide classes and active ingredients. RESULTS: The dichotomous analysis of exposure (absent, present) yielded some increased risks, although not statistically significant, for aliphatic hydrocarbons [adjusted odds ratio (adjusted OR) 2.05, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.62-6.80], inorganic compounds (adjusted OR 2.02, 95% CI 0.53-7.72), and glufosinate (adjusted OR 2.45, 95% CI 0.78-7.70), and a significant association for pyridil derivatives (adjusted OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.19-6.44). The analysis based on the experts' scores (2 levels of exposure) showed some consistent associations for these compounds. CONCLUSIONS: This research indicates a possible risk of congenital malformations for paternal exposure to some pesticides, notably, pyridils, aliphatic hydrocarbons, inorganic compounds, and glufosinate. It did not find an increased risk for paternal exposure to pesticides in the classes of organophosphates, carbamates, organochlorines, chloroalkylthio fungicides and organosulfurs. These findings warrant further investigation."