The first in a series of seminars to help educate farm labor contractors, growers and supervisors about heat illness prevention regulations will be held on Thursday, April 5, in Easton. The training will be held at the C.P.D.E.S. Hall, located at 172 W. Jefferson Avenue, Eaton CA.
Attendees will be able to take what they learn back to their own operations, ultimately educating thousands of farm employees.
California employers are required to take these four steps to prevent heat illness
Training: Train all employees and supervisors about heat illness prevention.
Water: Provide enough fresh water so that each employee can drink and least 1 quart per hour and encourage them to do so.
Shade: Provide access to shade for at least five minutes of rest when an employee believes he or she needs a preventative recovery period. They should not wait until they feel sick to do so.
Planning: Develop and implement written procedures for complying with the Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Standard.
The seminars hope to reduce the problems of heat illness injuries in agriculture by training participants about the dangers of heat-related injuries and how heat injuries can be prevented.
At the conclusion of the seminars, participants receive a certificate, as proof of completion. The agricultural industry encourages farmers who use the services of farm labor contractors to ask for this proof of completion of the heat illness program. This program is not a substitute for any of the state training required to obtain or maintain a farm labor contractor’s license under the law, and cannot be used to meet any of those training requirements.
The Spanish session will begin at 10 a.m.; the English session will begin at 1 p.m.
Additional classes will be held in Tulare on April 12, Bakersfield on April 18 and Modesto on April 26.
For more information, or to register, contact Fresno County Farm Bureau at 559-237-0263 or info@fcfb.org.
Informational handouts on the heat stress prevention regulations are available online at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/HeatIllnessInfo.html. Pocket-sized heat illness prevention tips for employees are available at the Farm Bureau office at 559-237-0263.
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