PPE for harvesting

Reported symptoms of GTS include nausea, vomiting, weakness, dizziness, abdominal cramps, excessive sweating, headache, and sometimes fluctuations in blood pressure or heart rate. These tend to be short-lived and vary in intensity and persistence according to each individual and degree of exposure. Similar symptoms can appear in cases of heat stress and also in the unlikely event of exposure to Crop Protection Agents, sometimes making it difficult for doctors to diagnose GTS.

Although scientific research on the subject is limited and published evidence indicates the incidence to be low, we recognise GTS can be an occupational health risk for some tobacco workers who handle wet tobacco leaves.

Minimising the risk of GTS

There are a number of steps we recommend tobacco workers take to reduce the risk of contracting GTS. These include:

•  Avoiding handling wet tobacco by waiting for the rain (or dew) to dry from the leaf.
•  Quickly changing out of wet clothes saturated with moisture originating from green tobacco leaves.
•  Wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to avoid direct skin contact with tobacco during harvesting. We recommend clothing such as gloves, trousers and shirts / aprons made from impermeable cloth, although in hot weather this can increase the risk of heat stress. The success of this measure largely depends on the farmers’ willingness to use PPE.
   

Anyone who shows symptoms of GTS should stop handling the tobacco, rinse any skin that has been in direct or indirect contact with wet tobacco, change their clothes and seek medical advice. They should visit their healthcare providers for diagnosis and treatment.

Current practice

Our business is actively working to improve its understanding of GTS.

We believe that education is key and that tobacco workers should be given practical guidance to better understand and avoid the risks of contracting the illness. Education programmes include information about risk factors, preventative measures, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.