Supplemental surveillance: a review of 2015 and 2016 agricultural injury data from news reports on AgInjuryNews.org

Demeter - a Risk Mitigation Tool for Agriculture Workers

The agriculture industry lacks novel techniques for analyzing risks facing its workers. Although injuries are common in this field, existing datasets and tools are insufficient for risk assessment and mitigation for two primary reasons: they provide neither immediate nor long-term risk mitigation advice, and they do not account for hazards which fluctuate daily. The purpose of Demeter is to collect safety data about hazards on farms and produce risk analysis and mitigation reports. This application uses a combination of formula-based risk calculations and state-of-the-art graph neural networks (GNNs) to perform risk analysis and reduction. The formula-based risk calculations had a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.2110, and the GNN had an accuracy of 94.9%, a precision of 0.3521, and a recall of 0.8333. Demeter has the potential to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities among agriculture workers by alerting them to risks present in their daily workflow and suggesting safety precautions.

Animal-Related Injuries and Fatalities in the AgInjurynews Collection

OBJECTIVES

This research had three objectives. The first was to characterize reports of animal-related injuries found in the AgInjuryNews Dataset. The second objective was to compare the results of the AgInjuryNews reports to that of the Regional Rural Injury study. The third objective was to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the utility of using the AgInjuryNews database.

METHODS

A total of 104 reports on animal-related incidents representing 112 victims were sourced from AgInjuryNews. Chi square tests were performed comparing fatal and non-fatal injuries across age, gender, role in incident, animal, and activity. Additional chi square tests were performed to compare AgInjuryNews data with the results of Regional Rural Injury Study II across age, gender, animal, and activity. Utility of the dataset was assessed by examining the distribution of reports across states, the availability of articles, and qualitative observations.

RESULTS

Chi square results comparing fatal and nonfatal injuries were significant for victim gender. Results of the comparison of the two studies were significant for age and activity. A mismatch between the states with the highest populations of large animals and the states with the most reports in the AgInjryNews.org database was detected. Approximately 42% of reports the original articles were not accessible. Media bias plays a role in which cases are reported, but the size and accessibility of the dataset increases its utility.

CONCLUSION

Despite the limitations inherent to the dataset, the amount of freely accessible information and the level of insight provided make AgInjuryNews a valuable resource for agricultural injury research.

Forces required to operate controls on agricultural all-terrain vehicles: implications for youth

All-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes are among the leading causes of injury and death among youth in the agriculture industry. It is hypothesised that youth are involved in ATV-related incidents because they cannot effectively activate the vehicle's controls. This study evaluated potential discrepancies between the required activation forces of the controls of fifty-four utility ATVs and the strength of male-and-female youth of varying ages (6-20 years old) and strength percentiles (5th, 50th, and 95th). The activation forces of the ATVs' controls were measured experimentally, while the youth's corresponding strength was retrieved from the literature. The results of this study demonstrated a physical mismatch between the forces required to operate ATV controls and youth's strength. Turning the handlebar, pressing the footbrake, and pushing the ATV off are the most difficult tasks for ATV operation. These discrepancies compromise the youth's ability to ride ATVs, increasing their risk of crashes. Practitioner summary: Previous studies indicate that some youth engage in ATV incidents because they cannot activate the vehicle's controls. We measured the forces required to operate eight ATV controls and compared them with the youth's corresponding strength. Our results demonstrated physical mismatches between the forces required to operate ATV controls and the youth's strength.

Ability of youth operators to reach agricultural all-terrain vehicles controls

PROBLEM

Utility All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) are one major cause of youth injuries and fatalities on farms. Utility ATVs have heavy weights and fast speeds that require complex maneuvering. Youth's physical capabilities may not be sufficient to perform those complex maneuvers correctly. Therefore, it is hypothesized that most youth engage in ATV-related incidents because they ride vehicles unfit for them. There is a need to assess ATV-youth fit based on youth anthropometry.

METHOD

This study focused on evaluating potential inconsistencies between the operational requirements of utility ATVs and the anthropometric measures of youth through virtual simulations. Virtual simulations were performed to assess 11 youth-ATV fit guidelines proposed by several ATV safety advocacy organizations (National 4-H council, CPSC, IPCH, and FReSH). In total, 17 utility ATVs along with male-and-female-youth of nine ages (8 to 16 years old) and three height percentiles (5th, 50th, and 95th) were evaluated.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated a physical mismatch between ATVs' operational requirements and youth's anthropometry. For example, male-youth aged 16 of the 95th height percentile failed to pass at least 1 out of the 11 fit guidelines for 35 % of all vehicles evaluated. The results were even more concerning for females. Female youth 10 years old and younger (from all height percentiles) failed to pass at least one fit guideline for all ATVs evaluated.

DISCUSSION

Youth are not recommended to ride utility ATVs.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study provides quantitative and systematic evidence to modify current ATV safety guidelines. Furthermore, youth occupational health professionals could use the present findings to prevent ATV-related incidents in agricultural settings.

Regional surveillance of medically-attended farm-related injuries in children and adolescents

Purpose

Due to numerous environmental hazards such as heavy machinery and large livestock, youth who live and work on farms are at high risk of injury, disability, and death. This study described a regional surveillance system for monitoring farm-related injuries in children and adolescents. As the risk of farm-related injuries are not exclusive to farm residents, trends in farm-related injuries over the previous 5 years were reported and compared between children/adolescents who did and did not live on farms in north-central Wisconsin.

Methods

A retrospective cohort of child and adolescent patients of the Marshfield Clinic Health System was assembled. Incident farm-related injuries, including from agricultural work or other activities in a farm environment, were extracted from medical records from 2017 through 2021. Generalized linear models were created to compare age- and sex-adjusted farm-related injury rates by year.

Results

There were 4,730 (5%) in-farm and 93,420 (95%) out-farm children and adolescents in the cohort. There were 65 incident farm-related injury cases in the in-farm group and 412 in the out-farm group. The annual incidence rate of farm-related injuries was higher in the in-farm group, but changes during the 5-year timeframe were not significant in either group. In the in-farm group, rates ranged from a high of 61.8 [95% confidence interval (CI): 38.3, 94.5] incident farm-related injuries per 10,000 children/adolescents in 2017 to a low of 28.2 (13.5, 51.9) injuries per 10,000 children/adolescents in 2018. In the out-farm group, rates ranged from 10.7 (8.3, 13.6) to 16.8 (13.7, 20.5) incident farm-related injuries per 10,000 children/adolescents per year between 2017 and 2021. The in-farm group had a higher proportion of injured males and heavy machinery injuries, while the out-farm group had more all-terrain vehicle injuries and pesticide poisonings.

Conclusion

Farm residency remains hazardous for children and adolescents, as injury rates were three times higher in the in-farm group and remained stable over 5 years. All-terrain vehicle injuries were high in both groups, and should be a priority in rural safety interventions. With additional adaptations to other states, this surveillance model could be scaled across other healthcare systems.

'No-one else wears one:' Exploring farmer attitudes towards All-Terrain Vehicle helmets using the COM-B model

INTRODUCTION

All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV) are a popular piece of farming machinery but are linked to many fatalities and injuries every year. Despite evidence that ATV helmets reduce the risk of serious or fatal injury, research suggests that few farmers wear them. The aim of this study was to explore farmer attitudes toward ATV helmets, using the COM-B model as a framework to identify key barriers and enablers of helmet use and suggest potential interventions to increase helmet use in agriculture.

METHODS

A mixed-methods online survey featuring quantitative and qualitative questions was used to explore key attitudinal factors relevant to farmer helmet wearing. A total of 211 UK and Irish farmers were recruited, including farm owners, managers, workers, and contractors.

RESULTS

Personal exemption from risk, emotional benefits, cognitive barriers, and guideline prompts were all found to be significant predictors of farmer helmet wearing. Key categories within the qualitative data indicated that helmet properties, risk perception, farming culture, and the farming environment could all function as barriers to helmet wearing. Suggested enablers of helmet use included increasing helmet availability and enhancing awareness of the consequences of ATV accidents.

CONCLUSIONS

The key barriers and enablers presented within this paper highlight the relevance of capability (helmet design, time pressure), opportunity (social norms), and motivation (perceived control of risk) when considering farmer helmet wearing behaviors. In order to encourage farmers to wear helmets it will be necessary to design specific interventions using the behavior change wheel.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Key interventions to prompt helmet use include the inclusion of more cues to prompt helmet wearing (e.g., stickers on the ATV), enhanced training and education, and modelling (e.g., key farming figures shown to wear helmets in the media).

Nonfatal Agricultural Injuries Treated in Emergency Departments: 2015-2019

Utilizing emergency department admissions to estimate and describe agricultural injuries in the United States (U.S.) provides a unique view of one of the country's most dangerous occupations. This study characterizes and provides nationally representative estimates of persons with non-fatal agricultural-related injuries treated in emergency departments in the U.S.We conducted a cross-sectional study using U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data for patients treated in emergency departments from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019. We queried all cases in the NEISS database using the location code "farm" and with a narrative search using relevant key words.An estimated 62,079 people were treated in an emergency department for agricultural related injuries. The mean age estimate in this population was 39 years-old, with ages ranging from 1 to 95. Almost two-thirds of patients were male, and almost 80% were white. Approximately 30% and 22% of those injured were youth and elderly patients, respectively. The majority of injuries occurred from April through September. The most common injury was fracture, followed by open wound or amputation. There were significant differences between the body parts injured in youth versus adult patients. The primary source of injury was in the vehicles category, with tractors being the dominant vehicle type.Agricultural vehicles remain a major source of injuries that require treatment in emergency departments. Previous methods of quantifying severe ag-related injuries were limited; our research utilized NEISS data to portray injury statistics more accurately.

Agricultural All-Terrain Vehicle Safety: Hazard Control Methods Using the Haddon Matrix

All-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes are one of the leading causes of death and injury in agriculture across the United States. Use of ATVs is highly prevalent in rural areas and has seen an increase in their application for a variety of agricultural work tasks. Empirical research on the use of these vehicles for agricultural tasks and associated injuries is limited, especially in the United States. Moreover, little is known about the risk factors associated with ATV-related injuries while doing farm work. A comprehensive review was conducted to evaluate the current injury burden of ATV use in agriculture, the need for future research, and possible solutions related to agricultural ATV safety. Potential injury prevention approaches are evaluated based on the hierarchy of control, including elimination or substitution (using side-by-side vehicles instead of ATVs or modifying ATV design), engineering control (operator protection devices), administrative authority (regulations and standards in the United States and around the world), training, and use of personal protective equipment. In addition, vehicle nomenclature, risk factors, and crash mechanisms are reviewed. Recommendations to decrease the likelihood of ATV crashes and injuries are provided.

Grower Perceptions of Safety Hazards and Associated Injuries among Farmworkers Involved in Northwest Potato Production

Background: Potatoes are a vital part of the Pacific Northwest's agricultural economy. As in many agricultural industries, workers involved in potato production may be at risk for illness and injuries.Methods: A Hazard Perception Survey (HPS) was completed by 63 potato growers in Washington (n = 26) and Idaho (n = 37) during the fall and winter of 2017-2018. Participants were asked to indicate their level of concern regarding the frequency and severity of injuries associated with various potato production tasks. Descriptive statistical analyses were used to identify operations and tasks that potato growers perceived to be most hazardous.Results: The majority of growers (70.9%) indicated that they were very concerned about injuries on their farm. Growers reported that tasks requiring bending, twisting, and lifting resulted in the most common and severe injuries, followed by potato sorting during harvest and falling during planting operations.Conclusions: Potato growers were concerned with potential hazards related to a variety of potato production tasks. In response to these concerns, we developed educational materials to assist growers in identifying and mitigating safety hazards on their own establishments. Future research is needed to evaluate the utility of these tools on reducing potential hazards and injury rates among workers in the Northwest potato industry.

Assessing the Emergent Public Health Concern of All-Terrain Vehicle Injuries in Rural and Agricultural Environments: Initial Review of Available National Datasets in the United States

Background

Injuries related to the operation of off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), continue to be a significant public health concern, especially in rural and agricultural environments. In the United States alone, ATVs have played a role in thousands of fatalities and millions of injuries in the recent decades. However, no known centralized federal surveillance system consistently captures these data. Traditional injury data sources include surveys, police reports, trauma registries, emergency department data, newspaper and online media reports, and state and federal agency databases.

Objective

The objectives of this study paper were to (1) identify published articles on ORV-related injuries and deaths that used large databases and determine the types of datasets that were used, (2) examine and describe several national US-based surveillance systems that capture ORV-related injuries and fatalities, and (3) promote and provide support for the establishment of a federally-funded agricultural injury surveillance system.

Methods

In this study, we examined several national United States–based injury datasets, including the web-based AgInjuryNews, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, databases compiled by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the National Fatality Review Case Reporting System.

Results

Our review found that these data sources cannot provide a complete picture of the incidents or the circumstantial details needed to effectively inform ORV injury prevention efforts. This is particularly true with regard to ORV-related injuries in agricultural production.

Conclusions

We encourage the establishment of a federally funded national agricultural injury surveillance system. However, in lieu of this, use of multiple data sources will be necessary to provide a more complete picture of ORV- and other agriculture-related injuries and fatalities.

Redesigning a Sentinel Surveillance System for Collecting and Disseminating Near Real-Time Agricultural Injury Reports: System Usability Study

Background

Injury data and reports provide valuable information for both public and private organizations to guide programming, policy, and prevention, but in the increasingly complex and dangerous industry of US agriculture, the injury surveillance needed to produce this data is lacking. To address the gap, AgInjuryNews was established in 2015. The system includes fatal and nonfatal injury cases derived from publicly available reports, including occupational and nonoccupational injuries, occurring in the agricultural, forestry, and fishing (AFF) industry.

Objective

The study aimed to develop a stakeholder-engaged redesign of the interactive, up-to-date, and publicly available dataset of US AFF injury and fatality reports.

Methods

Instructor-led heuristic evaluations within a 15-student undergraduate course, data from 8 student participants of laboratory-based usability testing and 2016 and 2017 AgInjuryNews-registered user surveys, coupled with input from the National Steering Committee informed the development priorities for 2018. An interdisciplinary team employed an agile methodology of 2-week sprints developing in ASP.NET and Structured Query Language to deliver an intuitive frontend and a flexible, yet structured, backend, including a case report input form for capturing more than 50 data points on each injury report.

Results

AgInjuryNews produced 17,714 page views from 43 countries in 2018 captured via Google Analytics, whereas 623 injury reports were coded and loaded, totaling more than 31,000 data points. Newly designed features include customizable email alerts, an interactive map, and expanded search and filter options. User groups such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America have endorsed the system within their networks. News media have cited or referenced the system in national outlets such as the New York Times, Politico, and the Washington Post.

Conclusions

The new system’s features, functions, and improved data granularity have sparked innovative lines of research and increased collaborative interest domestically and abroad. It is anticipated that this nontraditional sentinel surveillance system and its dataset will continue to serve many purposes for public and private agricultural safety and health stakeholders in the years to come. 

A Review of 2016-2017 Agricultural Youth Injuries Involving Skid Steers and a Call for Intervention and Translational Research

Skid steers or loaders are becoming prolific in U.S. agriculture - as are the injuries and fatalities related to their use. A review of incidents as queried in AgInjuryNews from 2016 to 2017 revealed an overrepresentation of youth being involved in these tragic incidents. This raises concerns over parental attitudes and beliefs about the safety of these machines. Skid steer incidents do not appear to be a result from a lack of safety education materials, however. Indeed, manufacturers, the Centers for Disease Control, and many state extension systems have safety manuals and general instruction, including YouTube videos and online resources. Thus, there appears to be a significant gap between safety knowledge and practice. There is also a lack of published research, including intervention strategies, training evaluation, and translational/implementation studies specific to skid steer machines. This review of youth incidents is therefore also a call for further research for foundational studies regarding attitudes and behaviors involving skid steers in agriculture, intervention models, and efforts to translate prevention knowledge beyond the existing materials.

Establishing a publicly available national database of US news articles reporting agriculture-related injuries and fatalities

BACKGROUND

The AgInjuryNews system and dataset are a news report repository and information source for agricultural safety professionals, policymakers, journalists, and law enforcement officials.

METHODS

AgInjuryNews was designed as a primary storage and retrieval system that allows users to: identify agricultural injury/fatality events; identify injury agents and emerging issues; provide safety messages for media in anticipation of trends; and raise awareness and knowledge of agricultural injuries and prevention strategies. Data are primarily collected through Google Alerts and a digital media subscription service. Articles are screened, reviewed, coded, and entered into the system.

RESULTS

As of January 1, 2018, the system contained 3028 unique incidents. Of those, 650 involved youth, and 1807 were fatalities. The system also had registered 329 users from 39 countries.

CONCLUSIONS

AgInjuryNews combines injury reports into one dataset and may be the most current and comprehensive publicly available collection of news reports on agricultural injuries and deaths.