COLUMBUS — A series of improvements to housing facilities in Ohio migrant worker camps, including running water, smoke detectors, and improved toilets, will soon be required with a state regulation that goes into effect Jan. 1.
The new rule, instituted by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, requires installing sinks with hot and cold running water in existing structures and including them in any new facilities built.
Also required will be smoke detectors in housing units, the installation of partitions in communal toilets, and mandates that non-flush toilets be emptied and cleaned at least once a week.
Farm owners will have five years to come into compliance with the most substantial change regarding hot and cold running water. Proponents say the upgrades will improve health and safety of everyone involved in the agriculture business.
In a business impact analysis written by the Common Sense Initiative, a division of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, state officials wrote that the regulations would likely improve the health of migrant workers.
“Washing hands before and after you eat, use the restroom, [and] prepare food prevents the spread of disease. People are much more likely to practice good hand washing when facilities are readily available,” according to the analysis. “Running water in a housing unit where you are sleeping and eating is a basic necessity for human habitation.”
Ohio has 104 agricultural labor camps that provide housing to thousands of migrant and seasonal workers, according to the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission — 18 of which are in Fulton, Henry, Ottawa, and Wood counties. Agricultural labor camps are regulated by the Ohio Department of Health. Michigan and Pennsylvania already require running water in individual housing units on agriculture camps.
Eugenio Mollo, managing attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, was a member of the state health department’s Agricultural Labor Camp Rule Review Committee.
“Running water helps everyone in Ohio,” he said, adding that it benefits the health and safety of the workers, their employers, and consumers who eat what is harvested.
When surveying farm workers who did not return to work in Ohio after stints in the state, Mr. Mollo said they frequently reported better housing conditions and pay in other states.
“It’s not good for the overall agriculture industry if there isn’t an adequate labor supply to do the farm work,” Mr. Mollo said. “And this makes sure our food is being harvested with the highest level of food safety in mind.”
Mr. Mollo said the migrant housing stock in northwest Ohio “is the oldest out of any corner of the state” and “a significant number” of camps in the area will need to make upgrades. The state estimates it will cost $500 per unit to install a sink for hand washing in existing structures, plus additional maintenance costs. Currently, many washing stations are situated outside dwelling units, requiring workers to walk to them to wash up or get a drink of water, Mr. Mollo said.
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services currently offers a grant program for growers who update their facilities.
A representative from the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, a farmer advocacy group that was identified by the state as “a stakeholder” in the development of the regulation, did not return a call for comment Friday.
Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.
First Published August 21, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
