Project Director: Carol Bryant, Ph.D.
Field Coordinator: Paul Monaghan, Ph.D.

This project is based in Immokalee Florida, where our community partner, the Farmworker Association of Florida has helped organize local citrus workers to use CBPM to address health and safety issues in the orange groves. The project is guided by a board composed of workers, health care providers and managers from citrus companies. The community board identified eye injuries as health priority among workers and companies. Formative research found the most common determinants of eye injuries to be dust, sand and residues on the leaves, the tree branches that strike the eyes and sunlight. Research also showed that the use of standard safety glasses would be difficult given Florida’s humid environment and the rapid pace of citrus harvesting. In 2004, a camp health aide program for eye safety was adapted for Florida citrus workers. The camp health aides received 20 hours of training in eye safety and first aid and tested 30 different styles of safety glasses before choosing one which met their criteria for comfort and effectiveness. Over 100 pairs of glasses were distributed to workers and their use in the fields was verified. A survey of 70 workers yielded their perceptions of the costs and benefits of using the glasses. The current harvest season is being used to verify the conclusions of the survey and to expand testing of the glasses to a wider audience.

Partnership for Citrus Worker Health Community Advisory Committee : 
    
• Partnership for Citrus Worker Health Community Advisory Committee(PDF)
• Partnership for Citrus Worker Health Community Advisory Committee Guidelines(PDF)