Preventing eye injuries among citrus harvesters: the community health worker model.
OBJECTIVE
Although eye injuries are common among citrus harvesters, the proportion of workers using protective eyewear has been negligible. We focused on adoption of worker-tested safety glasses with and without the presence and activities of trained peer-worker role models on harvesting crews.


METHODS
Observation of 13 citrus harvesting crews established baseline use of safety eyewear. Nine crews subsequently were assigned a peer worker to model use of safety glasses, conduct eye safety education, and treat minor eye injuries. Safety eyewear use by crews was monitored up to 15 weeks into the intervention.


RESULTS
Intervention crews with peer workers had significantly higher rates of eyewear use than control crews. Intervention exposure time and level of worker use were strongly correlated. Among intervention crews, workers with 1 to 2 years of experience (odds ratio [OR] = 2.89; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.11, 7.55) and who received help from their peer worker (OR = 3.73; 95% CI = 1.21, 11.57) were significantly more likely to use glasses than were other intervention crew members.


CONCLUSIONS
Adaptation of the community health worker model for this setting improved injury prevention practices and may have relevance for similar agricultural settings.
Florida Prevention Research Center, University of South Florida College of Public Health, Tampa, 33612, USA.
Paul F
PF
Monaghan
Linda S
LS
Forst
Jose Antonio
JA
Tovar-Aguilar
Carol A
CA
Bryant
Glenn D
GD
Israel
Sebastian
S
Galindo-Gonzalez
Zachary
Z
Thompson
Yiliang
Y
Zhu
Robert J
RJ
McDermott
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000328:Adult; D000383:Agriculture; D002957:Citrus; D003150:Community Health Workers; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005135:Eye Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005431:Florida; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans; D055815:Young Adult