Tomato worker ergonomics: REBA panel evaluation of job tasks using video.

This project tested the hypothesis that non-experts\u27 rankings of ergonomic stressors differ from those of health professionals. Tennessee ranks fifth in the production of tomatoes, an industry in which stoop labor, hand harvesting, and packing predominate. Specific parts of tomato workers\u27 bodies are at risk of ergonomic injury such as, shoulders (loads), backs (stoop labor), lower extremities (posture), and upper extremities (repetitive motion). Of equal importance is our expectation that the scores assigned by non-experts will correlate with those of experts, leading to a community consensus for action and practical intervention research. Video footage of harvesting and sorting was analyzed using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment method, revealing movements and postures likely to be injurious. A panel of 13 health professionals (“experts”) and industry personnel (“non-experts”) were assembled to rate job task video segments in tomato harvesting and packing using the REBA method. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the extent to which raters agree on the major body parts at risk of cumulative trauma disorders. Agreement and variation among professional groups, as well as intra-rater variability, were assessed . The possibility of achieving consensus among various professional groups with respect to the most dangerous tasks is discussed

Female Motivation in Engineering, Manufacturing, and STEM-Related Trades

Historically, female representation in engineering and manufacturing trades has been underrepresented compared to their male counterparts. Given this trend, the scope of this paper is to analyze the motivational factors among females who are currently working in Engineering and Manufacturing related trades in the surrounding lower East Appalachian area. Literature research will support an analysis of the following focus: Females in Engineering and Manufacturing Trades. The study focuses on analyzing questionaries from thirty-two females based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory and its three components: “outcome expectations, career interest, and career self-efficacy”. The major findings of this study indicate that creating awareness early and building self-efficacy are important factors in leading females to a STEM career; discrimination was not a major factor in females choosing a STEM career in this region; and parent/teacher/community involvement is essential for recruiting females in STEM careers

Early Occupational Pesticide Exposure in a Migrant Farmworker Population

INTRODUCTION. The enhanced susceptibility of children and adolescents to the adverse effects of pesticides is a priority of regulatory agencies, whose primary concern is typically the development of risk-based regulations to protect consumers and the general population. An important subpopulation occupationally exposed to pesticides at an early age is the children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs). Because this group is difficult to access, information is sparse on their age distributions and chemical exposure. EPA pesticide regulations do not adequately address these younger workers. METHODS. The regular summer health screenings performed on tomato Farms in East Tennessee by Rural Medical Services Inc., a Community and Migrant Health Center, afforded and opportunity for Students in her professions to engage in community-based research to query MSFWs on issues childhood and adolescent pesticide exposure. RESULTS 132 adults participated, with 19 providing information about 33 of their children. MSFWs began working in agriculture in Mexico or Central America did so at younger ages, with 58.8% age 1838.1% of those who started in U.S. (p=0.038). Weather in the US or in Mexico/Central America the proportion of survey children under 12 years old and they began working around pesticide-treated crops was 13.1%. Wars in tomatoes fields in Southeastern U.S.CONCLUSIONS Children under 12 maybe occupationally exposed. The capital MSFW population is a largely intact source of data on childhood and adolescent occupational exposure to pesticides