Documents horticulture 9 results

"Objectives Previous studies indicate an increased risk of cryptorchidism, incomplete testicular descent, among sons of women working with pesticides. This study assessed the risk of cryptorchidism among boys of parents employed as horticultural workers and farmers using nationwide registers on occupation and cryptorchidism.Methods The cohort consisted of >600 000 boys born in Denmark from 1980–2007 with a parent in employment during pregnancy. These boys were followed for cryptorchidism from 1980–2009 comparing risks among sons of horticultural workers and farmers with sons of parents in other occupations. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using Cox regression adjusting for parental age, birth years, parity, and geographical region. Results Sons of maternal farmers were at increased risk of cryptorchidism (157 cases; HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.12–1.53) compared to boys of mothers in other occupations (15 511 cases). Paternal occupation as farmer was unrelated to the risk among sons. Maternal occupation as a horticultural worker was associated with a non-significantly increased risk (72 cases; HR 1.20, 95% CI 0.95–1.52). A similar association was found for paternal horticultural workers. Sons of maternal farmers or horticultural workers who likely worked in the first trimester were not at increased risk of cryptorchidism.Conclusions This nationwide cohort study found a slightly increased risk of cryptorchidism in sons of maternal horticultural workers and farmers. However, subgroup analyses indicated similar findings for paternal horticultural workers, and no association for women likely working in the first trimester. The main findings should therefore be interpreted with caution."

"Working in agriculture and horticulture gives considerable job satisfaction. The tasks are often interesting; you can see the result of your own work, watch your crop grow and mature; you have an affinity with nature and can follow the changes in the seasons. However, today it is a dangerous work environment fraught with occupational injuries and diseases due to hazardous situations and to physiological, physical, biological, chemical, psychological, and sociological factors. The ongoing rapid development may, on the other hand, bring about many changes during the next decades with more farmers and growers switching to organic production. Moreover, increased awareness of animal welfare also may lead to improved working conditions. Large-scale operations with fewer family-operated agricultural businesses might mean fewer injuries among children and older farmers. A consequence of large-scale operations may also be better regulation of working conditions. The greater use of automation technology eliminates many harmful working postures and movements when milking cows and carrying out other tasks. Information technology offers people the opportunity to gain more knowledge about their work. Labeling food produced in a worker-friendly work environment may give the consumers a chance to be involved in the process. "

"This non-binding guide provides information and examples of good practice in connection with the implementation of health and safety directives, together with other necessary elements such as explanations and practical examples of the hazards and risks during all stages of farming, horticulture and forestry work. This guide is designed to help all stakeholders, in particular farmers, supervisors (especially in SMEs), employers, workers and their representatives, and others, to implement directives and to properly manage the prevention of risks due to work. This guide also contains a summary of the various EU directives, references and bibliography of information providers, a glossary, a list of key questions and a list by topic, a table of practical examples and a general table of the duties of the stakeholders. This guide contains various examples of good practice which have either been selected from the guides existing in the EU Member States or specially designed for this guide."

"The global weakness of collective bargaining and state regulation has spawned growing interest in employment protection though private governance. However, scepticism about the efficacy of unsupervised codes of conduct has triggered debate about external discipline through state regulation. This article seeks to contribute to debates about the processes that shape the nexus between private governance and state regulation.
It is based on an empirical study of Australian harvest workers who formally benefit from state regulation of pay and occupational health and safety (OHS). However, industry changes have undercut standards. Product market pressures from supermarkets squeeze growers' capacity to pay. Also, the labour market
is increasingly supplied by vulnerable Asian temporary migrants (including undocumented workers), often supplied to growers by unscrupulous temporary work agencies. While pay and OHS practices vary, many harvest workers are exploited. Nor is private governance (which extends to horticulture through the codes of conduct of supermarkets and peak temporary work agency bodies) effective. All codes draw their standards from minimum legal employment conditions, and all possess loopholes allowing breaches to escape attention and rectification.
In 2015, media and political attention fell on the working conditions of temporary migrants in horticulture. Government inquiries found evidence of exploitation, but were divided over solutions. Progressive politicians (influenced by unions) favoured stronger state enforcement powers and temporary work agency licensing.
Conservative politicians (influenced by business lobbies) claimed these steps would fail, and favoured the status quo. Political reform therefore stalled.
This study illustrates the importance of political processes in shaping the nexus between state regulation and private governance. In this case, a political stalemate leaves both regulation and governance deficient. Lacking protection from either source, harvest workers remain exposed to exploitative employment conditions."