Three workers who died this summer while working in Illinois corn fields have inspired a community forum on agricultural safety.

The forum will be held at 7 p.m. today in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Carrie Bueche, special projects assistant for Community Health Partnership of Illinois, said recent tragic instances prompted the need for a community forum.

These instances included the electrocution of two 14-year-old girls who were detasseling corn in a field near Tampico and the disappearance and death of a man who was a migrant worker from Mexico. His body was found six weeks later also in a field near Tampico.

“We’re hoping to have a discussion about farm workers and their needs in Illinois,” Bueche said.

NIU was chosen as the location for the forum based on ties between NIU’s Latino Resource Center and Susan Bauer, executive director of Community Health Partnership of Illinois. Bauer taught Spanish at NIU for a number of years and cites deep roots with the university and the area.

“The three deaths occurred in nearby Whiteside County, and many people were directly impacted by these events, and we felt it was important to bring the forum [to NIU],” Bauer said. “We felt it was important to honor the individuals who lost their lives in these tragic and utterly preventable deaths.”

Another reason NIU is an ideal location is because the Northern Illinois area, specifically DeKalb, Rochelle and Mendota, have high populations of migrant workers, whose needs will be addressed, Bueche said.

The goal of the forum is to develop recommendations to propose to Governor Quinn and state and federal agricultural regulators, Bauer said. She also encourages workers to share their stories and hopes the forum will bring together different segments of the farm community.

Another topic of importance to be discussed is youth labor, said Robert Aherin, Agricultural and Biological Engineering professor at University of Illinois. Aherin, who will be a member of the listening panel at the forum, recently completed an international research project on age-appropriate agricultural work for youth.

“We’ll be talking about the new child regulations being proposed by the Department of Agriculture, and I may write a review of those,” Aherin said. “[It’s about] making sure youth are protected.”

Illinois residents can legally begin to work fields at age 12.

“Agriculture is one of the most hazardous occupations in the nation, and it’s also one of the least regulated,” Bauer said.

Also on the listening panel will be legal experts, public health professionals and worker and regulatory agency representatives. Individuals interested in speaking at the forum are asked to bring a written copy of their comments to the forum.