IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Keeping food on your table starts by keeping farmworkers healthy.
That's why a training program is aiming to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19 cases among farmworkers in Southwest Florida.
"The workers are coming back from the north starting now, so there's going to be a lot more of them between now and November," said Carlene Thissen.
Thissen is a coordinator and farm labor supervisor of training for the University of Florida's Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee.
The Southwest Florida Research and Education Center has been running an educational program for farm owners and supervisors for the past 12 years.
But now, they created another training called the "Farm Labor Supervisor COVID-19 Safety Training: How to protect your farm labor."
The goal of the training is to proactively teach farm owners and supervisors what they can do to keep farmworkers protected.
"We figured if we make their bosses better, we make things better for the farmworkers, growers, and everyone," said Thissen.
The training is based on CDC guidelines and consists of three sections: COVID-19 education, why farmworkers are at a high risk of contracting the virus, and precautions.
"On the buses, for example, they need to make sure they keep the windows opened, put a partition behind the bus driver," said Thissen.
The training also covers housing safety and the importance of employees reporting to their employers if they begin to feel sick.
"Out in the fields, they need to expand the number of handwashing stations so that workers can frequently, without getting too close to each other, wash their hands," said Thissen.
So far, two training sessions have already been held, with over 600 people signing up to attend.
Thissen says the education center typically charges for their regular training program, but these COVID-19 safety training sessions are free.
"We had people last time; we could tell they were sitting in their trucks with their cellphones in the fields," said Thissen.
The virtual training sessions are offered simultaneously in English and Spanish through Zoom Video Conference.
"They can be in their office, have ten people sitting there if they want. We just wanted to make it really easy and convenient because, again, it's so important that people understand how to deal with this," said Thissen.
The next virtual training will be next Wednesday, September 16, 2020, and runs from 10 a.m until 12:30 p.m.
Additional dates include September 24, October 7, 13, and 21.
To register, you can email Barb Hyman at hymanb@ufl.edu with your name, email address, phone number, your company's name and address, names of those that will be attending, and which language you prefer (English or Spanish).
For more information, click here.
