Aquaculture Safety and Health
Nationwide, aquaculture employs more than 180,000 workers, and this labor force is expected to grow more than three-fold by the year 2020 to approximately 600,000 workers (USDA, 1998). Recognizing the importance of aquaculture to a rapidly growing number of workers and other stakeholders, the Southeast Center has assembled a transdisciplinary team from three universities to address occupational hazards in this major agricultural sector. This five-year, CDC/NIOSH-funded study is being led by Melvin L. Myers, MPA, a distinguished and retired officer of the United States Public Health Service and an Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health in the University of Kentucky College of Public Health.
During this study – which is one of the first in the nation to systematically identify and address occupational hazards in aquaculture -- researchers from the University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, and the University of Mississippi will meet the following key aims: (1) Review OSHA inspection reports to identify risk factors in aquaculture using the Haddon matrix. (2) Together with farm operators and managers, conduct walk-through surveys at fish farm sites to validate and augment the findings of the risk-factor analysis and to identify countermeasures used to reduce risks. (3) Develop and conduct a multi-state telephone survey of fish farms to describe the agricultural population at risk and its exposures to occupational hazards, injuries, and illnesses. (4) Conduct sensitivity analyses asking “What if” and “How could” questions regarding potential hazards, using a Farm Planning Tool adapted to analyzing low probability injury events with catastrophic economic consequences for fish farming enterprises. This analysis will help differentiate severe from trivial hazards and recommend countermeasures to eliminate or reduce hazards to workers. (6) Develop and publish “Simple Solutions” and self-evaluation checklists that will help fish farmers to eliminate or reduce exposure to hazards.
This project is supported by CDC/NIOSH Cooperative Agreement U50 OH007547. For more information contact the Principal Investigator: Melvin L. Myers, MPA Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health University of Kentucky College of Public Health Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention 1141 Red Mile Road, Suite 102 Lexington, KY 40504-9842 800-369-2963/Aquaculture Safety and Health (pdf format).