Oregon has proposed improvements to farmworker housing. Advocates say they aren’t enough.

A farmworker housing unit sits next to an orchard at a Wasco County farm. Farmworker advocates say they've asked Oregon OSHA to require houses be a certain distance away from fields to avoid pesticide drift. (Courtesy of Oregon Law Center)

After years of negotiations, Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, or Oregon OSHA, released a set of proposed changes to tighten health and safety standards in farmworker housing.

Some farmworker advocacy groups say the proposed changes fall short of what they were asking for. At the same time, groups representing farm owners say the rules go too far, and would likely put an undue financial burden on employers and could lead to a reduced workforce during peak harvest seasons.

Oregon farmworker housing standards are “alarmingly outdated,” according to advocates. The last time Oregon OSHA received input from farmworker groups and growers was in 2008 during a rulemaking process.

The office did make adjustments to housing standards in 2018 and during the COVID pandemic, according to Mark Peterson, the public information and communications director at the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, which houses Oregon OSHA. Farm owners usually recruit seasonal or year-round workers to harvest or do other labor that may not be possible with machine equipment. Martha Sonato, a state legislative and policy advocate for Oregon Law Center, said workers, many of whom are Latino, tend to live in owner-provided housing because it’s more affordable than renting nearby.

As of August, there were 508 registered farmworker housing sites, according to Oregon OSHA. Advocates say those housing units vary in living conditions, but they say a lot of the buildings lack flushable indoor toilets , proper food storage or cooking facilities. Sonato says some of them don’t have laundry machines and some tend to be overcrowded.

“Everybody deserves a place that is healthy and safe and that they can live with dignity,” Sonato said. “And unfortunately our housing market is so unaffordable that it really leaves a lot of people with very limited options.”

Some of the improvements Sonato said they’ve asked for include updates to electrical, septic, water and plumbing systems in employer-provided housing. Sonato also said they’ve asked the agency to require that housing be located a certain distance away from fields and out of caution from potential pesticide drift.

“In agricultural labor housing, we do have families with children that are playing outside and there is that possibility that they may be exposed to pesticide,” Sonato said.

Improvements to protect workers

Oregon OSHA attempted to address shortcomings of farmworker housing earlier this month, when officials released a draft of proposed changes . The draft updated requirements for farmworker housing, such as including private changing rooms near showers. The proposal would require farm owners to test drinking water for arsenic and nitrates and increase the number of sinks and toilets per person.

The office has also suggested creating a seasonal agricultural labor housing surveying program to increase Oregon OSHA’s ability to evaluate housing conditions. But that would hinge on a budget request from lawmakers during the 2025 state legislative session.

While Sonato said she appreciates some of the changes, she said the proposed updates fall short of what she and other farmworker advocacy groups were asking for.

For instance, she takes issue with the number of toilets provided. The draft rules call for one toilet per 10 occupants, the rules also allow for portable toilets. Farmworker groups also disagree with the requirements around kitchens, which still allow for them to be outdoors, provided they are screened. There’s also no mention of requiring the houses be built away from fields.

“It’s a missed opportunity,” Sonato said. “As a state, we can always be more protective, even if in other states, we don’t see rules that are what we would consider strong.”

On the other hand, Jenny Dresler, a spokesperson with Oregon Farm Bureau, an advocacy group for farmers and ranchers, said farm owners see eye-to-eye with advocates on some of the changes.

“That was our goal throughout this whole process,” she said. “Our other goal was to make sure that this was feasible and could be implemented. And that we weren’t further shuttering family farms.”

However, Dresler said many of the changes are ambiguous. She said the requirements that are clear, like providing 50 square feet of space per bunkbed in a bedroom, up from 40 square feet, will be costly, and likely lead to a reduction in the available housing stock, which would lead to fewer workers.

“With Oregon’s regulatory landscape, it’s not like you can go and rebuild that housing, especially when you’re in an orchard or when you’re surrounded by other farms or when there is no community based housing available in the area,” Dresler said. “So it’s not like you just have an opportunity to go and rebuild that housing.”

While Oregon OSHA will plan to make $5 million available through the Oregon Department of Agriculture to assist farm owners, Dresler said that’s a drop in the bucket.

“Five million dollars and as we know, in 2024 does not go nearly as far as you would need,” she said. “And so it’s going to be really important that the agency understands the total universe of costs that have been proposed in the draft.’

Oregon OSHA is making plans to hold a public hearing on the proposed changes both in English and Spanish, but the agency hasn’t scheduled it yet. If the proposed changes are approved, they will be phased in through 2027.

This story was originally published by Oregon Public Broadcasting , a Capital Chronicle news partner.