State Investigating Farm After Worker Dies

Several workers picking blueberries at a farm in Sumas, Washington, told state officials last week that the heat, smoke from wildfires in British Columbia, and a lack of clean drinking water are several reasons why they are speaking up after a co-worker collapsed and died.

Honesto Silva Ibarra had complained of headaches and was taken to a clinic. The 28-year-old collapsed and later died at a local hospital.

“Everyone was afraid of being fired. That’s why no one spoke up,” Alfredo Urbano Martínez, 20, from Michoacán, Mexico, told the Seattle Times. He and others complained about the living and working conditions at the farm, and about how food that they paid for through their employer was often undercooked.

Washington Labor and Industries spokesman Tim Church has said that the agency is following through on two investigations of the farm that could take as long as six months. One will look at workplace safety that will include a health inspection and another is focusing on employment standards at the farm.

Questions still to be answered are if the farm had proper label and safety notices in both Spanish and English, or if the farm had simple communication practices in place about health and sanitation reporting.

Visual Communication Can Help

Help diagnose injuries: Quick and accurate diagnoses can mean the difference between life and death. Echo large-format printer and enlarger by Graphic Products enables anyone to create posters from standard 8.5 x 11 documents. Create enlarged pain scales and picture sets to help people communicate nausea, dizziness, and other common symptoms by pointing rather than using verbal communication.

Create a safe environment: Having access to onsite and mobile printers for banners, posters, and labels can help create a safer environment. Create customized safety messages in any language predominantly used, that can be easily seen or accessed throughout the camp. Information such as sanitation practices and safe water practices can be clearly displayed on posters, while environmental hazards can be clearly marked, keeping people safe in an environment that can change daily.

Graphic Products offers portable printers like DuraLabel Toro that can be used to quickly create safety messages as required by the situation. Graphic Products’ line of labeling supplies includes labels that can be applied to nearly any surface without having to use sign blanks.