The webinar for Ag Employers regarding Understanding & Implementing NJ’s COVID-19 Guidance For Migrant & Seasonal Farmworkers, Employers & Housing Providers* held on Tue June 16, 2020 has been posted on the Rutgers NJAES On-Farm Food Safety team’s YouTube page.
All NJ agricultural employers are invited to learn directly from NJ Departments of Health, Labor and Agriculture who discussed expectations for implementation of the “NJ COVID-19 Guidance for Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers, Their Employers & Housing Providers” document in a Webex webinar hosted by Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
The agenda included introductory remarks by Secretary of Agriculture Doug Fisher, followed by a detailed overview of the guidance document by Amanda Medina-Forrester, Executive Director of the Office of Minority & Multicultural Health, and Siobhan Pappas, Coordinator of the Childhood Lead Program of the NJ Dept. of Health; Christine Blumauer, Policy Advisor in the Office of the Commissioner of the NJ Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development; along with comments from Michelle Blanchfield, MPH, Zufall Health, and Bridget Hogan, Ocean Health Initiatives representing Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) charged with assisting farmers with testing and education of farmworkers. Pete Furey and Ben Cassella of NJ Farm Bureau provided follow-up comments after a few questions were discussed.
- There have been no changes to the document since it was published, but one major point of discussion that you will hear in the recording was a comment made by a presenter that temperature monitoring should use a 99oF threshold instead of the 100.4oF threshold that was published in the guideline. Monique Purcell, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, who had worked closely with the NJDOH and NJDOL reps in development of the guidance document received clarification from them the next day that confirmed that the threshold remains 100.4oF.
- The other point addressed by several speakers was the need to work with and invite the FQHCs to your farm. They are charged with helping to educate your farm workers to understand this disease, how it spreads, and how to protect themselves (the importance of physical distancing and wearing face masks), as well as to provide testing for all employees on your farm, including the owner and family members working on the farm, free of charge.
*The NJDOH partnered with the NJDA and the NJDOL to create this guidance for agricultural employers focusing on precautions to help protect farm employees from COVID-19 on New Jersey farms and in farm labor housing. This webinar reviews these guidelines.
