Must Follow Specific Safety Rules Farm Employers of Migrant Workers Must Follow Specific Safety Rules Worker safety in agriculture in Minnesota is governed by few regulations compared with many other large industries, according to a farm safety and health specialist with the University of Minnesota's Extension Service. John Shutske says the two exceptions are the regulations that pertain to restricted use pesticides and those that employers of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers must follow.
Most producers are keenly aware of the state and federal regulations for pesticide use.
However, there is a lack of information about the basic regulations that have been put into place to protect the health and safety rights of the state's estimated 20,000 migrant farmworkers and their families. Often, workers themselves are not aware of their rights under these regulations. Federal Department of Labor standards that have been around for more than 20 years state every worker in the U.S. has the basic right to work in an environment that is free of recognized hazards likely to cause serious injury or death.