Consider agricultural employee health and safety during pandemic

Dairies still must milk cows. Feedlots and swine facilities still have daily chores. Agriculture production has been deemed an essential service by the Department of Homeland Security. Cornell University Cooperative Extension Service’s Agricultural Workforce Development program provided a memorandum of guidance for agricultural employers to take action to protect the health and safety of their employees during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

First, Cornell’s Richard Stup emphasizes that farm workforces are not immune to novel coronavirus. No matter how far they are away from population centers, the virus can be brought into facilities unknowingly by employees, service providers and others, which makes it important that employers talk about how the virus is spread, how employees can prevent the further spread of the virus and getting themselves and others infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has fact sheets and posters in English and several other languages that can be posted in the workplace and in employee housing facilities. They can be found at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/factsheets.html.

The next step is to clean and disinfect not just the workplace but also help employees clean and disinfect any employer-provided housing. The CDC also has guidance for cleaning, but it’s important to remember:

1. Set up a regular cleaning schedule and provide cleaning supplies such as solutions, buckets, mops, brushes and more.

2. Remember to pay attention to points where employees congregate or that are routinely touched, such as doorknobs, computer keyboards, the employee break room and bathrooms.

3. Employers should then review their sick leave policies and remember that the best defense of the coronavirus is to keep from spreading the virus, according to the CDC. Review the symptoms of novel coronavirus with employees. Employers should also consider if paid sick leave is provided or can be provided during this pandemic. Communicate that employees should stay home if they are sick and that they won’t be punished if they miss work. Their health and that of their co-workers and families comes first.

4. And finally, agricultural employers should have disaster contingency plans set up and communicate those plans to the workforce. Cornell advises employers to consider what would happen if 50% of their employees became sick and were unable to work? What duties must be done on the farm, and who has been trained to do those tasks? Can you share resources with neighboring farms in an emergency, and how would you do so safely? What if a key manager has to be quarantined or is hospitalized, how does the work continue?

More resources can be found at https://agworkforce.cals.cornell.edu/2020/03/12/novel-coronavirus-prevention-control-for-farms.

Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached at 620-227-1807 or [email protected].