Agriculture consistently ranks as one of the three most hazardous occupations in the nation. Nonetheless, farmworkers have few federal workplace safety protections and only a minority of states (e.g., California and Washington State), provide additional safeguards for farmworkers. A small fraction of workers (about 2%) benefits from union collective bargaining agreements which require additional safety measures.

The most significant federal workplace safety statutes are the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA, which imposes requirements on transportation and housing), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act, under which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued seven safety standards applicable in agriculture) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA, which regulates occupational exposure to pesticides). Many growers use farm labor contractors to hire and supervise their workers. Some then try to evade federal health and safety requirements, by claiming that the crew leader is the sole employer of the workers. These labor intermediaries, however, typically have little more than a battered school bus with which to transport their crews. As such, they lack both the authority and the resources to provide a safe workplace. Many cases, brought under the AWPA and the OSH Act are fought to determine which entity or entities employ(s) the workers and, thus, bear(s) the responsible for meeting safety requirements.

Farmworkers are often afraid to complain about health and safety violations because of fear of employer retaliation. This reluctance is particularly strong among workers who are undocumented, which is an estimated 52% of the hired crop workforce. For these workers filing a complaint about hazardous job conditions can lead to deportation. The limited protections available, the use of crew leaders and fear of employer retaliation,  coupled with additional factors, such as the workers short tenure employment, frequent mobility, social isolation, poverty, inadequate training, language barriers, and unfamiliar with American law, result in many, preventable workplace injuries and illnesses