Workplace Safety and Health

If you believe working conditions are unsafe or unhealthful, you may file a confidential complaint with OSHA or the Wage & Hour Division. If you are in a state listed above with a state OSHA you can ask for an inspection.

The temporary labor camp standard does not require separate housing for men and women. However, each person in a sleeping room must have at least 50 square feet of floor space and suitable storage space for their personal items. Beds, cots, and bunks must be at least three feet apart from one another.

Under the temporary labor camp standard separate bathrooms must be provided for men and women. The bathrooms must be marked with easily understood pictures or symbols, or with words in English and the language of the housing occupants. The bathrooms for men and women must be separated by solid walls or partitions extending from the floor to the roof or ceiling.

When you are doing hand-labor for more than three hours a day (including transportation) in the field of a farmer who has eleven or more hand laborers, your employer is required to provide clean toilet facilities and handwashing facilities with clean water, soap, and single-use towels, and a way to dispose of waste, including sanitary products. The employer’s failure to provide the required facilities may result in citations, penalties, and other actions as appropriate.

If you believe your employer has not complied with these requirements, you should contact the Wage & Hour Division by telephone: 1-866-487-9243 (WHD). If you are in a state with a state OSHA which covers agricultural workers, you should contact the state OSHA. See the information at the beginning of this section, Workplace Safety and Health.

If your employer is required to provide toilet facilities in the field, as explained above, the employer must provide reasonable opportunities during the workday to use the bathroom. If you believe your employer has not complied with these requirements, you may contact the Wage & Hour Division by telephone: 1-866-487-9243. If you are in a state with a state OSHA which covers agricultural workers, you should contact the state OSHA. See the information at the beginning of this section, Workplace Safety and Health.

Heat can make you sick or even kill you. Employers must protect their employees against heat stress. The ways to do this are providing water, rest, and shade breaks. If your employer does not, contact OSHA or if you are in a state with a state OSHA, you should contact that agency.

For more information visit OSHA’s Heat-Exposure or Heat Illness Prevention webpages.

Yes. If you are a hand-laborer working for a farmer who has eleven or more employees, the employer must provide potable cool drinking water and reasonable opportunities to drink it. Employers in all other industries, such as construction and manufacturing, must also furnish potable drinking water to employees.

OSHA requires employers to pay for most personal protective equipment (PPE) used to comply with OSHA standards. Employers generally cannot require you to provide your own PPE.

For more information, visit OSHA’s webpage on PPE.

The use of your own PPE must be completely voluntary. Your employer must ensure that your equipment is adequate to protect you from hazards at the workplace.

For more information, visit OSHA’s webpage on PPE.

You can contact OSHA for resources to help you with your back and hand injuries. You can call OSHA toll free at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), and press option 4. You may also contact your local OSHA area office. If you are in a State with a state OSHA, you should contact the state OSHA. For a list of these state see the information at the beginning of this section, Workplace Safety and Health.

For more information, visit OSHA’s webpage on ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorders.

Your employer must give you safety instructions in a language that you understand.

For more information, visit OSHA’s webpage on training.