Hired Farmworkers

Hired farmworkers--a group of about 1.5 million to 2.5 million laborers--are not adequately protected by federal laws, regulations, and programs, leaving their health and well-being at risk. Hired farmworkers often go into fields sprayed with pesticides without having any knowledge of the chemicals they are exposed to or the possible health consequences. Many farmworkers work in fields without drinking water, hand-washing facilities, or toilets--a situation with potentially serious health hazards. Young children are allowed to operate tractors and do other hazardous farm chores. In addition, they may be more susceptible than adults to the harmful effects of pesticides. Many hired farmworkers, particularly migrant farmworkers, may not get needed health care because they do not receive medical assistance from Medicaid and the Migrant Health Program. Hired farmworkers are also at greater risk than other workers of getting fewer Social Security benefits than they should, which means less financial support when they retire or become disabled.

GAO found that: (1) federal laws and regulations do not ensure that hired farmworkers are given sufficient information about pesticide hazards; (2) according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates, each year, hired farmworkers suffer up to 300,000 acute illnesses and injuries from exposure to pesticides; (3) EPA standards for protecting hired farmworkers exposed to pesticides do not require that they be informed on the specific chemicals they are exposed to or the potential health effects of those pesticides; (4) federal regulations on field sanitation do not protect hired farmworkers on small farms, and the Department of Labor's 1990 national survey of migrant farmworkers showed that 31 percent worked in fields without drinking water, handwashing facilities, or toilets; (5) federal labor law and child labor regulations allow children to work in agriculture at a younger age than in other industries; (6) children may be more susceptible than adults to the harmful effects of pesticides, and between 1979 and 1983, approximately 23,800 children and adolescents were injured on farms, 300 fatally; (7) most migrant farmworkers do not receive medical services from Medicaid or the Migrant Health Program because they are undocumented aliens or do not qualify for cash assistance programs; and (8) hired farmworkers are at greater risk than other workers to receive fewer Social Security benefits that they should, because their employers do not report all of their earnings to the Social Security Administration.