Jun 14, 2023Equitable Food Initiative recognizes worker safety month
Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) is bringing attention to worker safety by recognizing June as National Safety Month.
EFI is encouraging fresh produce grower-shippers to prioritize worker engagement to drive workplace safety and improve the bottom line, according to a news release.
“With the agricultural industry facing labor shortages, EFI is focusing on National Safety Month to underscore the opportunity to engage the 2.6 million U.S.-based farmworkers in strategies to increase safety, drive efficiencies and boost retention and recruitment,” EFI said in the release. “Studies have found that engaged workers deliver better customer service and quality, drive productivity and cost reductions, and reduce injuries.”
A Gallup study also found that employees who are less engaged are 64% more likely to have a safety incident.
EFI-certified farming operations that have engaged their employees in worker-management collaborative teams have implemented a range of worker-led safety initiatives. Teams have improved lighting in parking lots, access to drinking water, traffic flows and speed, ladder design, tractor use in the fields, air circulation in the packhouse as well as COVID protocols and sanitation. Teams also create repetitive motion injury prevention plans that introduce exercises and stretches to reduce muscle strain, apply ergonomics to repetitive motions, and ensure equipment is helping alleviate injury and strain.
EFI has helped form and train worker-management collaborative teams for 25 grower-shipper companies on more than 60 farming operations. Through the EFI certification program, more than 4,000 farmworkers and managers have been trained in problem-solving, communication and conflict resolution strategies, helping to improve labor and safety for more than 55,000 workers. To learn more about EFI certification, visit equitablefood.org.
Founded in 1913 and granted a congressional charter in 1953, the Itasca, Illinois-based National Safety Council is a 501 nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety.
EFI is the capacity-building and certification organization that partners with growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumer groups.