According to the Toledo Blade, farm owners will have five years to make sure migrant worker camps have hot and cold running water. It’s estimated to cost about $500 per unit to install a sink for hand washing.
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The Common Sense Initiative, which is associated with the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, wrote in an analysis that the regulations will benefit the health of migrant workers.
“Washing hands before and after you eat, use the restroom, [and] prepare food prevents the spread of disease. People are much more likely to practice good hand washing when facilities are readily available,” the analysis says, according to The Blade. “Running water in a housing unit where you are sleeping and eating is a basic necessity for human habitation."
According to the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission, there are 104 agricultural labor camps in the state.
Eugenio Mollo, an attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, told The Blade that keeping migrant workers healthy and happy can help farmers.
“It’s not good for the overall agriculture industry if there isn’t an adequate labor supply to do the farm work,” he said. “And this makes sure our food is being harvested with the highest level of food safety in mind.”