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Agriculture

Perhaps more than any other occupational group, agricultural workers are exposed to a tremendous variety of environmental hazards that are potentially harmful to their health and well-being.

  1. Agricultural work can also be physically demanding and the repetitive nature of the work causes a range of health problems, including severe back pain.
  2. Farmers and farm workers suffer from increased rates of respiratory diseases, noise-induced hearing loss, skin disorders, certain cancers, chemical toxicity, and heat-related illnesses. There are precautions that can be taken to minimize or eliminate these potential hazards.
  3. Heat stress occurs when the body builds up more heat than it can handle. High temperatures, high humidity, sunlight, and heavy workloads increase the likelihood of heat stress.
  1. Information, training and supervision: Ensure that every person on the farm has all the information and skills necessary to secure safety and health.
  2. Provide PPE: Provide and use personal protective equipment (PPE) or clothing PPE should be used as a last resort, after all other ways of eliminating or controlling the hazard have been considered. PPE should meet a high standard and be maintained and stored correctly. Examples include earmuffs, eye goggles, pesticide gloves and face shield.

Click Here to See Agriculture Sector Specific Checklist


Case Study

Twiga Foods, a food distribution company, has since 2019 trained more than 100 staff and farmers on food safety management and helped 18 farms in Kenya attain the GLOBALG.A.P certification standard, which will ensure 100 percent product traceability and quality assurance. Although the GLOBALG.A.P. certification is not a requirement in domestic markets, increasingly, food companies are applying global standards to local food products for long-term business benefits. A 2019 analysis by GLOBALG.A.P. found that 5,507 African food producers were certified under a leading European testing system. That marked the biggest growth of any region in the world.

Fam toolkit

Resources

  1. Improving health and safety of workers and actors in Uganda’s agriculture sector
  2. Guidelines for Agro - processors
  3. Global Gap Certification
  4. Fairtrade Certification
  5. KEBS – Food safety Certification
  6. https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/reports/subnational-reports/kenya
  7. Agro- processors- Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) Agro chemicals- Regulation of Harmful pesticides in Kenya – Kenya News Agency
  8. Exports information licences and certification

Support Options (useful options e.g. templates, manuals, detailed checklists)

  1. Doing-Business-In-Kenya-Local-Investors-Handbook.pdf
  2. For hotels and restaurants. Downloads
  3. https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/en/
  4. General business requirements and licensing - eRegulations Kenya

Where to go for help

  1. Research institutions eg Home - KIRDI

Sector Specific Standards