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Calif. bans weed pulling by hand on farms
MSNBC ^ | 23 September 2004 | AP

Posted on 09/23/2004 6:14:50 PM PDT by pickemuphere

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California became the first state Thursday to ban weeding by hand on most farms, saying the work is too backbreaking for laborers.

Under a rule approved by the California Occupational Safety and Health Division, farmworkers, in most cases, will not have to stoop to pull weeds, but will instead be given long-handled tools that will allow them to work without bending over. The rule takes effect within two weeks.

The regulation aims to prevent the “real and substantial risk of back injury” caused by stooping to weed or thin plants by hand, Cal-OSHA said. The workplace-safety agency had no estimate of how many California field hands hurt their backs.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: burdock; chickweed; dandelion; goldenrod; jimsonweed; lambsquarters; nannystate; nimblewill; spurge
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To: chiller
Which raises the question; why haven't employers provided these tools already? The initial investment? (which could be substantial)

According to the LA Times article on the same topic today (page B1), CA banned the short-handled (12") hoe in 1975, since using it to pull weeds was hard work and since anyone resting would be immediately visible.

So, the farmers/subcontractors hired workers to pull weeds by hand. Still, farmers prefer other methods, since hand-weeding is slow and labor-intensive (read: expensive).

41 posted on 09/23/2004 7:24:39 PM PDT by heleny
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To: highpockets

I dunno... strawberries are pretty good if they're cold and fresh.

Once, me and my honey bought some and forgot them in my truck. It got hot that day. When we finally got in the truck, couldn't figure out what the stink was.

Finally found the strawberries. Smelled like dirty, old stinking feet. Toe cheese. Bad enough to make you puke.


42 posted on 09/23/2004 7:26:36 PM PDT by djf
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To: Ronaldus Magnus

I always thought that a good ho can make much more than minimum wage.


43 posted on 09/23/2004 7:29:53 PM PDT by Willie Green (Go Alan Go!!!)
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To: tubebender; chiller; DoughtyOne

well im not a total city slicker but no i havent worked on a farm.

if the tool works, then maybe its cheaper than opening yourself up to potential lawsuits as well. i work in front of a computer these days, and i know even having your monitor in the wrong place can cause neck and back problems. it makes sense to use or better technology and knowledge to improve our jobs and health.


44 posted on 09/23/2004 7:30:41 PM PDT by sweneop
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To: Jewels1091

[kids detassle corn]

Been there,did that :)

It's good, honest, hard work.


45 posted on 09/23/2004 7:32:57 PM PDT by VxH (Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there - Isa 28)
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To: Lizavetta
MACHINES.

Strawberries ten years ago tasted much better, but spoiled quicker and were more susceptible to diseases than the strawberries commonly available today.

Since the current strawberries already taste really bland, they might as well generate an "improved" type as resistant to bruises as apples and oranges. (I hope not!)


I wonder, if Cal-OSHA can enforce their labor regulations on farms, why can't the INS/CIS/etc. or Border Patrol enforce immigration law as well?

46 posted on 09/23/2004 7:34:00 PM PDT by heleny
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To: Jewels1091
Oh my word...we in NE would be screwed with this law...we walk beans (soy) and kids detassle corn have for decades that's how they make money!

My father-in-law worked every summer walking the corn in NE when he was a kid. My husband decided washing dishes at Bishops was more his likeing, LOL. Still trying to get one of my kids to fly out there for the summer and "walk the corn". We in Connecticut don't have such options. I could never understand how a child could get lost in a corn field till I visited Nebraska.

47 posted on 09/23/2004 7:47:09 PM PDT by KosmicKitty (Well... There you go again!)
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To: pickemuphere

This is no different than OSHA requiring hard hats on some construction sites. I don't see anything wrong with it and in my opinion, unless the farmer is hiring illegals, it would SAVE them money in workers compensation claims for injured backs.


48 posted on 09/23/2004 7:48:18 PM PDT by sandbar
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To: pickemuphere

At least they didn't demand the farmers eschew the operation altogether, and order them to only use "weed-eating" geese.


49 posted on 09/23/2004 7:55:00 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The world needs more horses, and fewer Jackasses!)
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To: djf

LOL


50 posted on 09/23/2004 8:01:15 PM PDT by highpockets
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To: sweneop

Thanks for the comments.


51 posted on 09/23/2004 8:19:21 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (US socialist liberalism would be dead without the help of politicians who claim to be conservatives)
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To: highpockets

The answer is simple....roundup ready strawberries.


52 posted on 09/23/2004 8:35:27 PM PDT by Hoosier43fan (B4Ryan)
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To: rawhide

News Report: Thousands of children in California are dancing in the streets tonight after new labor laws prohibit the hand-picking of weeds.


53 posted on 09/23/2004 8:37:03 PM PDT by DanielLongo (don't tread on me)
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To: KosmicKitty

It's easy when the corn is 12 foot tall....


54 posted on 09/23/2004 8:47:43 PM PDT by Jewels1091
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To: JesseJane

All farm labor should be done by inmates. No need for illegal aliens to do it.



There's a way to win the farmer vote. I'd just want to see the look on my father in law's face when he's told all his farm labor will now be done by inmates.


55 posted on 09/23/2004 8:54:37 PM PDT by FauxBlonde
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To: pickemuphere
Mixed feelings on this one...

Why mixed feelings?  It's called a job!

56 posted on 09/23/2004 8:55:11 PM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: DoughtyOne

yeah but before it sprouts back up it digs its roots in deeper, making it harder to pull out next time around.


57 posted on 09/23/2004 9:13:51 PM PDT by KingNo155
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To: rawhide

"I am curious, what kind of tool can do the job of weeding by hand effectively?"

Actually, weeding by hand was NOT outlawed, the use of short-handled weeders was ( how short is short ?)


58 posted on 09/23/2004 9:15:33 PM PDT by RS (Just because the Pajama Posse is out to get him doesn't mean he's not guilty)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus

"It gets easy after your millionth weed!" LOL


59 posted on 09/23/2004 9:17:40 PM PDT by KingNo155
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To: KingNo155

True.


60 posted on 09/23/2004 9:17:48 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (US socialist liberalism would be dead without the help of politicians who claim to be conservatives)
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