Using Cultural Consensus Analysis to Improve a Safety Campaign for Farmworkers

Abstract

For the past four years, researchers at the Florida Prevention Research Center, along with community partners that include the Farmworker Association of Florida, and the Collier County Health Department and several large citrus companies, have been evaluating an eye safety program targeted at citrus harvesters. We have used a variety of field methods to inform the development of a social marketing campaign that will attempt to convince workers to wear safety glasses when they pick. It is difficult to convince workers to wear safety glasses because many believe it slows down the rate of picking, which has an impact on earnings. We have achieved the most success so far by using trained community health workers called "promotores" who are citrus pickers themselves and who work alongside their peers, dispensing safety glasses, advice and first aid. In our research, we found that harvesting crews that have one of these "promotores" have increased their use of safety glasses from zero to over 30%.