Effectiveness of occupational safety and health training for migrant farmworkers: a scoping review

Objective: Migrant farmworkers report higher rates of work-related illnesses, injuries and fatalities compared to local workers. Language and cultural barriers represent a relevant source of risk which can be reduced by means of targeted training interventions. This review aims at identifying and synthesizing the results of currently available literature about the effectiveness - in terms of improvement in at least one of the following variables: safety knowledge, behaviors, atittudes & beliefs, and health outcomes - of occupational health and safety training programs and interventions addressing migrant workers in the agricultural sector. Methods: Scoping review. Results: Twenty-nine publications met the inclusion criteria. Of these, nine cross-section studies discussed the effectiveness of training activities in terms of whether having participating in any program, had or did not have a significant effect on the dependent variables, when training was considered together with other sociodemographic factors. In the majority of these studies, training appeared to have low or no effect on the dependent variables considered. Other twenty mainly within-subjects experimental studies addressed the effectiveness of specific training methods, reporting significant improvements especially for interventions based on a participatory approach. Conclusion: Training could greatly contribute to an effective attainment of occupational safety and health information, but the present review shows that more evidence is needed to guide the future development of effective training activities.