Environmental Health

This week’s post could have been called “A few dozen on Friday” -- there were lots of happenings in the world of health justice for the mobile poor. Here’s a tidy selection of the offered news pieces recommended by MCN staff.

1. Charlotte, Development Manager, noted this Texas Tribune article detailing the opposition in Dallas against legislation for rest breaks for construction workers.

This month, Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) was awarded a Susan Harwood Training Grant for capacity building from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). MCN’s project, Worker Safety and Health in Community Health Centers: A sustainable and integrative approach to immigrant safety and health, will target immigrant workers in hazardous industries, in both rural and urban areas.

Migrant Clinicians Network is thrilled to announce today that the Environmental Protection Agency has at long last released its revised Worker Protection Standard, fortifying the rules that protect agricultural workers in fields across the US. We at MCN, along with dozens of our partners in farmworker and environmental health, applaud the newly amended WPS, which includes important provisions to protect farmworkers and pesticide applicators from pesticide exposure.

To round out our celebration of National Farm Safety and Health Week, we dedicate this week’s Five on Friday blog to the health and well-being of children in agricultural settings. Here are some recommendations from our staff.

National Farm Safety & Health Week is an annual campaign that recognizes the essential yet extremely hazardous work of our nation’s farmers. Today, we’re shining a light on America’s dairy farms and farmworkers because, really, who could imagine a life without cheese?

This week marks National Farm Safety and Health Week. While there is much to be celebrated in terms of advancements in farm safety, there is still much work to be done -- particularly when over 100 children are killed each year on farms in the US from largely preventable incidents, as reported by the Childhood Agricultural Safety Network. These avoidable farm tragedies affect children and their families for life.

Yesterday, Migrant Clinicians Network and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) discussed their current review of the Worker Protection Standard (WPS). The WPS is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation protecting farmworkers across the US from pesticide exposure. 

Labor Day: Double issue!

One of the best ways we can honor our country’s workforce is to stay informed on the many issues that affect their health and safety. This Friday, we commemorate the millions of hardworking migrants in our country with a Labor Day Double Issue of Five on Friday. That’s right -- ten articles, calls to action, research papers, webinar announcements and more, all recommended by MCN staff to help keep you updated in the world of migrant health.

Migrant Clinicians Network staff had lots to share this week. Here are the top five reads that we recommend to you.

1. Del, Director of International Projects, Research, and Development, offered up this interactive tool that “makes it easy to see how antibiotic resistance for four bacteria transmitted commonly through food has changed during the last 18 years.”