A farmworker housing unit sits next to an orchard at a Wasco County farm. Farmworker advocates say they’ve asked Oregon OSHA to require houses be a certain distance away from fields to avoid pesticide drift. (Courtesy of Oregon Law Center)
After years of negotiations, Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, or Oregon OSHA, released a set of proposed changes to tighten health and safety standards in farmworker housing.
Some farmworker advocacy groups say the proposed changes fall short of what they were asking for. At the same time, groups representing farm owners say the rules go too far, and would likely put an undue financial burden on employers and could lead to a reduced workforce during peak harvest seasons.
Oregon farmworker housing standards are “alarmingly outdated,” according to advocates. The last time Oregon OSHA received input from farmworker groups and growers was in 2008 during a rulemaking process.
The office did make adjustments to housing standards in 2018 and during the COVID pandemic, according to Mark Peterson, the public information and communications director at the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, which houses Oregon OSHA. Farm owners usually recruit seasonal or year-round workers to harvest or do other labor that may not be possible with machine equipment. Martha Sonato, a state legislative and policy advocate for Oregon Law Center, said workers, many of whom are Latino, tend to live in owner-provided housing because it’s more affordable than renting nearby.