  Privacy
| Legal |
Table of Contents Back | Next | Cover Page |
 Technology & Development Center |
Personal Safety of Federal Land-Management Field Employees Working Along the Mexican Border
In September of 2005, the authors traveled to Arizona to interview Federal employees (table 1) about the unique personal safety and health problems they face while working on or near the border. While there, we used qualitative methodology (Strauss and Corbin 1998; Driessen 1997; Schatzman and Strauss 1973; Glaser and Strauss 1967) to conduct 38 face-to-face or telephone interviews.
| Agency | No. of employees |
|---|---|
| Forest Service | 13 |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 9 |
| National Park Service | 8 |
| Bureau of Land Management | 5 |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs/Tribal Nations | 2 |
| Border Patrol | 1 |
Each of the employees selected to be interviewed by the chair of the Borderland Management Task Force, the deputy forester for the Coronado National Forest, or the safety and health manager for the Coronado National Forest were from a wide range of positions (table 2). Some of the interviews were with one individual while others were in a group setting. The interviews were not tape-recorded, but each team member took detailed notes during each interview.
| Position | No. of employees |
|---|---|
| Volunteer | 1 |
| Indian health officials | 1 |
| Human resource officers | 1 |
| Biologists | 2 |
| Firefighters/managers | 4 |
| Recreation staff | 5 |
| Resource management staff | 7 |
| Supervisors/managers | 9 |
| Law enforcement officers | 8 |
All of the employees were eager to participate in the project and clearly wanted someone to listen to their personal safety concerns and problems. They told us this project is a tangible sign they are being listened to and that someone is trying to solve their problems.
 |
E-mail: