Understanding Your Protections Against Unsanitary Work Conditions as a Farm Worker

Understanding Your Protections Against Unsanitary Work Conditions as a Farm Worker

As a farmworker, you have the right to contact a workers’ compensation attorney in San Jose if you feel that you are being forced to work in unsafe conditions. Unsafe and unsanitary conditions can result in a range of adverse health consequences. The lack of clean drinking water, for example, can result in heat-related illnesses that may turn deadly. As your workers’ compensation attorney can explain to you, the regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor require agricultural employers to provide their workers with potable drinking water. If your employer has failed to do this and it has resulted in a workplace injury like heat exhaustion, contact a workers’ compensation attorney promptly.

Agricultural employers are also required to provide workers in the field with adequate toilet facilities and handwashing facilities. Field workers have the right to reasonable access to these facilities and employers are required to provide information to each employee regarding sanitary hygiene practices. These regulations apply to agricultural establishments in which 11 or more workers are performing hand-labor operations in the field on any given day.