Primary Presenter: Jenna L Gibbs, MPH, PhD. Research Coordinator, University of Iowa Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health (GPCAH).
Additional Authors: Janice Camp BSN MSN MSPH, and Marissa Baker MS, University of Washington School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
Learning Objective: This presentation will discuss the ten emerging occupational health themes identified by the Future of Occupational Health Project, a consortium of environmental and occupational health professionals, researchers, and students. The learning objective is to introduce these themes and to discuss how they may impact and/or relate to agricultural health and safety in the United States. These themes were the emerging issues that were identified and discussed at the Future of Occupational Health Symposium held at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA on June 2015. This presentation addresses the topics of ‘Engagement’ and ‘Emerging Issues’.
Abstract: The Future of Occupational Health Project has gathered professionals, researchers, and students to reflect on history and define specific themes for the future of the field in regard to practice, policy, research, and the education of practitioners and workers. The aim of this presentation is to briefly present each of the ten emerging occupational health themes (identified at the 2015 Future of Occupational Health Symposium), and to discuss how they may specifically impact agricultural health and safety. The aim is not to solve every issue, but rather to get professionals, farmers, and researchers to get involved with discussion about some of these future topics. These included: 1) Policy-implemented vs. voluntary approaches to control, 2) Adoption to an aging workforce, 3) Insurance (worker’s compensation and Affordable Care Act), 4) Vulnerable populations (immigrants, minorities, women), 5) Work organizational changes (part-time, temporary, contract work), 6) Emerging production and ‘green’ technologies (e.g., automation of production processes, use of advanced polymers), 7) Emerging investigative technologies (e.g., cell phone sensors, ‘big data’ analytics), 8) Measurement of burden/impact, 8) Education of future professions, and 9) Climate change (e.g., heat stress). Each theme will be uniquely presented with photos demonstrating relevance to the agricultural working population.
A/V needed: LCD Projector/Laptop
Oral Presentation, 30 minutes