Friday, January 15, 2021
CapitalPress.com 3
Oregon Farm Bureau
petitions for changes to state
COVID-19 labor housing rules
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — The Ore-
gon Farm Bureau is asking
state regulators to amend
emergency
COVID-19
protections for migrant
and seasonal farmworkers
living in agricultural labor
camps, arguing the rule as
currently written contains
serious flaws.
In a petition submit-
ted Jan. 4 to the Oregon
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration, the
Farm Bureau says a signif-
icant number of farmwork-
ers are being displaced by
reducing housing capac-
ity — which, ironically,
potentially
increases
their exposure to the
coronavirus.
“Inexplicably, Oregon
OSHA’s rules ... all but
ensure that most agricul-
tural occupants will not be
able to live on-farm in safe
shelter, and instead pushes
them to entirely unregu-
lated environments,” the
petition states. “Specifi-
cally, the prohibition on
bunk beds, bed spacing
requirements and need for
isolation units has drasti-
cally reduced the number
of employees who can be
housed on-farm.”
Samantha Bayer, pol-
icy counsel for the Farm
Bureau, said the group is
asking for Oregon OSHA
to adopt amendments that
would allow bunk beds;
scale back “arbitrary”
sanitation requirements;
and establish a contin-
gency plan for COVID-19
outbreaks.
“Because our concerns
with the current rules have
continually fallen upon
deaf ears, filing a for-
mal petition is the only
way to ensure that agri-
cultural housing provid-
ers will have a seat at the
table when determining
how best to manage their
housing and protect their
employees during COVID-
19,” Bayer said.
Aaron Corvin, a spokes-
man for Oregon OSHA,
said the agency is review-
ing the petition.
Oregon OSHA initially
adopted temporary hous-
ing and field sanitation
rules in June 2020, based
on a petition from the Ore-
gon Law Center and Vir-
ginia Garcia Memorial
Health Center, advocating
on behalf of farmworkers.
Gov. Kate Brown issued
an executive order one day
before the rules were set to
expire on Oct. 24, extend-
Associated Press/East Oregonian
A senior citizen receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the The Palace as-
sisted living facility Jan. 12 in Coral Gables, Fla. It could be months before vaccines
are available for farmworkers.
When to expect COVID-19
vaccines for farm and food workers
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Capital Press FIle
The use of bunk beds is among the issues discussed in
an Oregon Farm Bureau petition seeking changes in
OSHA’s COVID-19 rules for housing farmworkers.
ing the housing require-
ments through at least
April 30.
The rule stipulates that
beds must be spaced at
least 6 feet apart or sepa-
rated by an impermeable
barrier, such as Plexiglass
or heavy plastic sheets.
Unrelated workers can-
not share bunk beds, and
those who test positive for
COVID-19 must be iso-
lated in their own separate
facilities.
Violators may be sub-
ject to a Class C mis-
demeanor, according to
Brown’s executive order.
But Bayer said the
measures come with a
trade-off.
“Yes, you’ve reduced
your on-farm capacity and
density, but you’ve pushed
farmworkers to unreg-
ulated living situations
where their exposure to
COVID-19 is potentially
greater,” she said. “Hous-
ing capacity and creating
more opportunities for safe
shelter is one of the biggest
deficiencies (in the rule).”
Farms have reported
their housing capacity has
been cut by as much as
50% in some cases, Bayer
said, while others sim-
ply opted not to open their
labor camps and eschewed
hiring their usual migrant
workers.
The Farm Bureau’s
petition notably calls for
bringing back bunk beds,
and though it would main-
tain the distance between
beds at 6 feet, that would
be measured from the cen-
ter point of each mattress.
Current rules also call
for sanitizing high-touch
surface areas at least twice
per day, and portable toi-
lets at least three times
per day. That is not only
expensive, Bayer said,
but requires farm opera-
tors to be in greater contact
with workers, potentially
increasing their exposure.
The petition, instead,
calls for high-touch sur-
faces and common areas to
be cleaned every 48 hours.
Workers would be encour-
aged to clean and sani-
tize their personal spaces
— including bed frames,
nightstands, storage spaces
and lockers — as much as
possible.
“We just don’t feel that
robbing employees of their
autonomy, and ability to
clean their own spaces …
is an appropriate response
to COVID-19,” Bayer
said.
Finally, the petition
includes language for sig-
nage, masks, building ven-
tilation and what to do if a
worker tests positive. As
proposed, the amended
rules would come into effect
immediately and would sun-
set at the end of COVID-19
emergency orders.
“We hope this petition
shows the state and the
public what we already
know to be true — Ore-
gon’s farm and ranch fam-
ilies will walk the walk
when it comes to protect-
ing the well-being of those
who work and live on the
farm,” Bayer said.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
— The COVID-19 vaccine
rollout is underway across
the West, but it could be
months before farmworkers
and others in the food sector
receive vaccination.
In most Western states,
food and agriculture work-
ers will be third or fourth in
line for vaccines.
People 65 and older and
people with pre-existing
health conditions will come
first.
The Trump administra-
tion originally advised states
to put health care work-
ers as the highest-priority
group, but the Department
of Health and Human Ser-
vices announced sweeping
changes to the plan Tues-
day, urging states to priori-
tize aging people and those
with underlying conditions.
Officials say it could take
months to vaccinate these
groups. Nationwide, about
53 million people are 65 or
older and more than 100 mil-
lion people have high-risk
medical conditions, accord-
ing to the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention.
The new policy created
confusion among states that
have been following their
own timelines. Unless fed-
eral regulators decide to
enforce the directive, states
will maintain freedom to
follow original plans. But
officials say most states will
likely comply with the new
recommendations.
Oregon has been in
Phase 1a of a four-phase
plan, focused on vaccinat-
ing health care workers.
The Oregon Health Author-
ity, or OHA, estimates
this includes between
300,000 and 400,000 indi-
viduals. As of Jan. 10,
104,595 vaccinations have
already been administered
to health workers.
Under the new plan, the
state will move the 764,400
people aged 65 and older to
the front of the line Jan. 23.
Oregon will simultane-
ously vaccinate remaining
health workers, along with
childcare workers and K-12
school and school district
staff — about 110,000 peo-
ple, according to the state
Department of Education.
Then others in Phase 1b
will become eligible, includ-
ing “workers who are in
industries essential to the
functioning of society” with
“substantially higher risk
of exposure.” This would
include the agricultural sec-
tor, but OHA has yet to
decide which occupations
come first.
Several farm groups,
commodity
associations
and food processing com-
panies have sent letters to
Gov. Kate Brown and OHA
asking for their workers to
receive high priority.
In California, under the
new directive, people 65
and older — about 14.8%
of the population — will get
vaccinated first along with
those with underlying health
conditions.
Health care workers,
about 2.4 million people,
will either be second in
line or vaccinated simulta-
neously, which is yet to be
decided.
Then will come Phase 1b,
which includes “essential”
workers in the education,
childcare, emergency ser-
vices and the food and agri-
culture sectors.
Idaho is sticking close
to its original plan. Gov.
Brad Little late Tuesday
announced that after health
care workers, the state will
prioritize teachers, school
staff, first responders and
some other frontline work-
ers between Jan. 13-31
before making doses avail-
able to the 65-and-up popu-
lation Feb. 1-15.
Starting mid-February,
the state predicts vaccine
rollout will begin for food
and agriculture workers.
In Washington state,
Tuesday’s directive won’t
likely have a significant
impact on timing. That’s
because, prior to Tuesday,
Washington’s health care
workers were first in line
and aging population second
in line.
The new order will just
reverse these two groups,
and agricultural work-
ers will likely remain
in Tier 2 of Phase 1b
— approximately third
in line.
The Washington Farm
Bureau says the state’s
COVID-19 vaccination plan
has “failure written all over
it.”
Agriculture has been
working “diligently” to
explain the importance of
getting the entire agricul-
ture workforce vaccinated
as soon as possible, said Bre
Elsey, associate director of
government relations for the
bureau.
She cited the state’s
planned arrival dates, roll-
out dates and implementa-
tion delays.
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