Hospitalized head and spine injuries on Saskatchewan farms

Global Patterns of Agricultural Machine and Equipment Injuries- A Systematic Literature Review

OBJECTIVES

Agriculture is the one of the hazardous industries in the world. Though there is significant investment in agricultural safety, machine injuries continue to be the leading cause of agriculture injuries worldwide. The objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive literature review on global patterns in agricultural machine injuries and establish a framework for future research aimed at addressing safety concerns in the agriculture sector.

METHODS

The existing scholarship on farm machine injuries can be categorized into three main areas: a) farming machine/equipment injuries, b) factors associated with these injuries, and c) injury patterns.

RESULTS

Overall, the findings highlight that farm tractors are the primary source of injuries for both fatal and non-fatal incidents regardless of region. Other common sources of injuries were harvesting machinery and hand/power tools in Asia, ATVs in North America and woodworking machinery in Europe. Inadequate training in operating farm equipment was reported as the most likely factor contributing to machine-related injuries. Lastly, the patterns of injuries vary based on the interaction between humans and machinery. For instance, rollovers often result in severe head and fracture injuries, while thresher incidents can lead to amputation of hands, arms, and other body parts.

CONCLUSION

Addressing these injuries by implementing safety protocols will not only enhance the well-being of farm workers but potentially attract more workers to the sector, which is currently experiencing labor shortages due to machine-related injuries.

Agricultural Injuries: Risk Factors and Severity by Affected Body Part among US (Midwest) Farmers

OBJECTIVES

Statistics from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that agriculture consistently ranks as the most hazardous industry in the US. To identify specific targets for prevention, we investigated injury risk factor profiles separately for each injured body site. We also characterized the severity of agricultural injuries by injured body site using the type of medical care and lost work time due to injury.

METHODS

We used the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) surveillance data for 2018 to perform descriptive statistics and regression modeling.

RESULTS

We found that 12% (513/4351) of the participants experienced one or more injuries in the previous 12 months. Compared to female operators, male operators had 3.53 (95% CI: 1.17-10.68) times higher odds of back injury. Operators in livestock production had 2.77 times (95% CI:1.12-6.82), 2.28 times (95% CI:1.25-4.14), and 1.69 times (95% CI:1.10-2.59) higher odds of injury to the chest/trunk, finger, and leg/knee/hip, respectively, compared to operators in crop or mixed production. After adjusting for age and gender, operators who worked full time (vs. part-time) on the farm/ranch had 2.11 times (95% CI:1.03-4.34) higher odds of back injury. Arm/shoulder and leg/knee/hip injuries were more frequent in older age groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevention measures should be tailored considering specifically livestock producers with emphasis on trainings on proper livestock handling, such as being gentle, establishing routine, keeping distance, and avoiding sudden and loud noise when handling animals. Applying these techniques avoid startling the animals and reduce the risk of injuries.