Improvements are aimed at protecting agricultural workers and their families from potential hazards
Salem, OR — Oregon OSHA is proposing significant improvements to its safety and health rules for housing that employers provide to workers, most often in agricultural settings. The proposed rule changes are part of a comprehensive package of program enhancements aimed at protecting agricultural workers and their families and boosting employer compliance.
The division's agricultural labor housing (ALH) rule proposal – which will undergo an open and transparent public hearing and comment process before it is adopted – involves numerous improvements to requirements for addressing the potential hazards in employer-provided housing. Oregon OSHA regulates such facilities from the perspective of workplace safety and health.
The rule proposal is part of a comprehensive set of reforms on how the division addresses ALH. Those reforms, which are in addition to the rule proposal, would be incorporated as part of the budget and other administrative processes. Altogether, the reform package includes:
- Rule changes that would substantially raise the protective standards for indoor and outdoor facilities that employers must include when they provide housing.
- Technical assistance to support the Oregon Department of Agriculture in providing $5 million in grant funds to growers for existing on-farm housing compliance with the rule change. In addition, a commitment to support additional funding for infrastructure improvements once the existing grant funding is exhausted.
- Development of a new, annual self-certification requirement for employers that includes required statements and mandatory documentation – including photos, videos, or other evidence – of continued compliance for certain rule provisions. This would be pursued through a budget proposal during the 2025 legislative session. If approved, it would complement future enhancements to the registration system by including more detailed information about each location's amenities. Oregon OSHA would conduct a rulemaking to add the self-certification requirement to its registration process.
- Establishment of a new seasonal ALH surveyor program to increase Oregon OSHA's ability to evaluate conditions at housing locations. This would be pursued in conjunction with the self-certification program budget proposal. The surveyor program would deploy seven seasonal surveyors across the state to evaluate site conditions, attempt to gain compliance when noncompliant conditions are identified, and refer a site to Oregon OSHA's enforcement program if needed. Other staff will support the program's work, including the recertification process, training, and the expected increase in ALH enforcement inspections. A rulemaking would also be conducted to implement this program.
- Increased interagency coordination regarding issues affecting agricultural workers.
“Our comprehensive approach to ALH reflects the fact that this rule proposal must be accompanied by additional, program-level steps to bolster the safety and health of who we know are among our most vulnerable workers and families," said Renée Stapleton, administrator for Oregon OSHA. “As we move forward in this way, we will do so in partnership with multiple state agencies. Because building a better framework for ALH is not an individual effort, it will take a lot of teamwork."
“And with all of these proposed changes," Stapleton added, “we are focusing on increasing protective measures while maintaining a stable operating environment for employers."
Oregon OSHA's announcement of the package of reforms follows a challenging multi-year, comprehensive review of its existing ALH requirements that included using a rulemaking advisory committee. The division garnered input from growers, agricultural associations, housing operators, and employee representative groups.
“We are grateful for the active participation of worker and grower representatives during the transparent and productive advisory process that led to this proposal," said Andrew Stolfi, director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, of which Oregon OSHA is a division. “Worker protection is at the core of our mission. We know that we cannot achieve our mission simply by issuing regulations, which is why we are proposing a comprehensive, multi-agency approach to protecting some of our most vulnerable workers. We look forward to receiving public comment on these proposals."
Public hearings on the ALH rule proposal will be conducted at a later date in both Spanish and English. The rule proposal process will include opportunities for public comment, including in writing. Once the rule has been proposed through the Secretary of State rulemaking process later this month, comments may be submitted by email at
OSHA.rulemaking@dcbs.oregon.gov. The deadline for submitting comments and the public hearing schedule will be posted online on Oregon OSHA's
proposed rule and the
agricultural labor housing webpages.
The proposal's language –
available for review online – includes delayed effective dates for certain provisions, recognizing the need for time to prepare for the changes.
The table shows the proposal broken down by category and year of implementation:
Registration |
January 2025 implementation - Remove exception that housing provided for nonfood crops were not required to register (current registration applies only to crops harvested for food)
- Submit water testing results to Oregon OSHA with annual registration application (no current requirement)
- Require sites in Initial registration to have no hazardous conditions (registration is currently provided when site is substantially in-compliance)
|
Facility Grounds |
January 2025 implementation - Provide adequate exterior/walkway lighting to facilities (current requirement vague)
- Require secure storage of hazardous materials (no requirements in labor housing)
- Require product use according to label (no specific requirement in labor housing)
- Require structures to be free from nuisance materials (current requirement is specific to food waste and water hydrants)
|
January 2026 implementation - Remove livestock care exception (housing can currently be within 500 feet if occupants are tending or working with the livestock in question)
|
Laundry |
January 2026 implementation - Provide tubs and trays for laundry at 1:25 ratio, or 1:30 ratio if laundry machines are provided (currently ratio for tubs and trays is 1:30)
- Provide separate method for cleaning contaminated clothes from other clothes (no current requirements in labor housing)
|
Water |
January 2025 implementation - Post water testing results in language of occupants or pictograms (no current requirement)
- Add arsenic and nitrates to well water testing frequency for all wells provided as part of employee housing (no current requirement)
- Make sure potable water requirements do not include requirements for other rules – heat illness/sanitation (no current requirement)
|
January 2026 implementation - Require water pressure to be no less than 20 psi; if not able to maintain 20 psi, then document limitation from qualified professional, but cannot be less than 15 psi (currently no less than 15 psi)
|
Bathing Facilities |
January 2026 implementation - Provide locking shower stalls (no current requirement)
|
January 2027 implementation - Provide a private changing room for a shower area (no current requirement)
|
Toilets |
January 2025 implementation - Provide a handwashing facility with paper towels adjacent or a reasonable distance to portable or chemical toilets (handwashing requirements are currently ambiguous for these specific types of toilets)
- Provide solid doors for toilets (solid door not required, curtains are allowed)
|
January 2026 implementation - Locate privies (e.g., an outhouse) more than 200 feet from facilities (currently 100 feet from food or living area)
- Do not count privies toward toilet ratios (currently counted in toilet ratios)
- Require a 1:10 toilet ratio for each gender, no less than two toilets if more than two of the same gender (current ratio is 1:15 for each gender with no minimum)
|
Kitchens |
January 2025 implementation - Provide protected food storage area (no current requirement)
- Provide adequate food storage area (no current requirement)
- Provide refrigerator capable of maintaining 40 degrees (currently 41 degrees)
- Provide 2 cook burners per 8 occupants or 2 family units, whichever is more (current ratio is 2:10)
|
January 2026 implementation - Explicitly require gas burners to vent outside (building codes apply, but this protection not explicitly listed)
January 2027 implementation - Provide kitchens that are enclosed/ indoors or screened (kitchens are not currently required; when provided, certain provisions apply, but can be outside with no shelter or screen enclosures)
- Provide plumbed sinks with hot and cold water near food preparation area (no current requirement)
- Do not count toilet sinks toward sink requirements in kitchens (sinks in toilet rooms and kitchens all currently count toward the same ratio)
|
Housing |
January 2025 implementation - Remove cots as an allowable bed type
- Require mattresses to be 4 inches thick (currently, any mattress thickness or more than two-inch foam pad is allowed)
- Ban fumigation with pesticides as a mechanism to clean mattresses (fumigating the mattress with pesticides is currently an option to clean)
- Provide cleanable mattress covers (can currently fumigate uncovered pads or provide cleanable pad covers)
- Must not require workers to sleep in same bed if that is not their preference (currently silent on the topic)
- Add safe access to the top bunk such as ladders or stairs (no current requirement)
- Install carbon monoxide detectors (no current requirement)
- Ensure forks, driveways, buildings, and housing units are properly marked (no current requirement)
- Use chemicals in accordance with label for insect/rodent control (other generic rules apply, but not in housing)
- Add “structurally sound" to existing housing requirement language (housing must currently be safe and in good repair)
- Align disease reporting with the Oregon Health Authority (currently aligned with disease reporting requirements in effect before 2008)
- Notify of the availability of a space heater (no current requirement)
- Expand the list of what growers cannot charge occupants to include toilet paper, soap, laundry facilities, and cool water (pay-per-use toilets, pay-per use bathing facilities, or any other method of paying for individual service requirements are currently prohibited)
|
January 2026 implementation - Maintain indoor temperature of 78 degrees in all sleeping areas when 80 degrees outside, or 15 degrees below outside temperature if at or above 95 degrees (cooling area for 50 percent of housing occupants is currently required)
- Provide one electrical outlet per occupant in sleeping areas (current requirement is one outlet in living area, regardless of number of occupants)
- Provide 21 cubic feet of storage for each occupant or family unit (storage allowance currently not specified; “suitable" only)
- Provide lockable storage for personal effects (no current lockable storage requirements)
January 2027 implementation - Provide at least 50 square feet per bed in sleeping rooms with bunk beds (currently 40 square feet)
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