Many deaths at Wisconsin small dairy farms could be prevented; OSHA could use its authority to dig deeper

Cows, equipment and weather all contribute to dairy
farm dangers. (Photo via ProPublica)

Deaths on small dairy farms in Wisconsin often don't lead to safety inspections, perhaps leaving farm workers unprotected from preventable dangers. In the case of many deaths over the last decade, the Office of Safety and Health Administration never opens a case, citing a lack of authority; however, had the agency probed further, it could have done more," report Maryam Jameel and Melissa Sanchez of ProPublica. "How OSHA interprets and applies its definition of a "temporary labor camp" — and whether it should consider dairy workers temporary when farms produce milk year-round — has significant implications for the safety of thousands of workers in one of America's most dangerous industries."

ProPublica reports on three specific deaths of immigrant dairy workers that may have resulted from a lack of safety or training, but in each case, OSHA inspectors "went to the farms [and] left within an hour — without conducting investigations into the deaths. . . .The inspectors concluded they couldn't investigate because OSHA is banned from enforcing safety laws on farms with fewer than 11 workers unless they have employer-provided housing known as a 'temporary labor camp.'"

A broader look at dairy farm deaths raises more questions. "Since 2009, at least 17 workers, most of them immigrants, have died on Wisconsin dairy farms. Twelve of the deaths happened on farms with fewer than 11 workers. OSHA did not inspect eight of those 12, each time citing the small farms' exemption," Jameel and Sanchez write. "Records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews show that the agency may have more power to open an investigation into these farms than even its own leaders seem to be aware of."

In all three deaths ProPublica examined, how the inspectors so quickly came to their conclusions seems unclear. ProPublica reports, "Had the inspectors taken a slightly closer look, they might have learned that the farmers had readily talked with law enforcement officials about providing housing for their immigrant workers. . . . And if the inspectors had read OSHA's own files, they would have known that the agency has repeatedly, though inconsistently, inspected small farms after concluding a housing arrangement was a temporary labor camp."

Lola Loustaunau, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School for Workers, told ProPublica that 'it would really open the door for a lot of protections for workers' if OSHA consistently inspected small dairy farms that provide housing to immigrant workers."

For more about the history on the small-farm exemption as a budget rider, Christina Cooke of Civil Eats discusses it here.