Workers at Small Farms at Risk Without OSHA Inspections, Watchdog Says

Thursday, November 29, 2018 | 0

An occupational safety watchdog has put the spotlight on a loophole in federal law that allows small farms to avoid OSHA inspections and sanctions.

FairWarning, a nonprofit organization that investigates workplace and farm safety issues, this week reported that for more than 40 years, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been barred from investigating incidents on farms with 10 or fewer non-family employees.

But government statistics show that from 2011 to 2016, some 333 employees were killed in accidents on those types of small farms, and families of the deceased workers want more safeguards.

“You’ve got protections in almost every other kind of workplace out there,” said Denise Kingsley, mother of a Pennsylvania worker who was killed in a hay silo accident in 2015. “I feel like there needs to be something in place.”

Kingsley's son wasn't provided a respirator or an escape plan by the small farm owner who hired him to help clean out the silo. A chute for the removal of the material became clogged and Jason Kingsley suffocated. 

A survey by the U.S. Department of Labor found that that workers on farms with 11 or more employees — which are subject to OSHA inspections — were far more likely to have protective equipment, such as safety goggles and respirators, than their peers on smaller farms.

The study was conducted in 1999, and more recent surveys have not correlated safety data with farm size, FairWarning reported.