INTRODUCTIONOccupational health on farms is important because farms are not only workplaces where agriculture workers are vulnerable to high injury and fatality rates, they are also homes where families and visitors undertake a variety of activities that can result in injury. AIMTo profile and describe injuries requiring hospital admission that occurred on farms, both for injuries related to farming activities and injuries unrelated to farm work in the Midland region of New Zealand. METHODSA review of anonymised prospectively collected Midland trauma registry data from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2018 was undertaken. Cases include unintentional injuries occurring on a farm. Non-major injuries are included to better quantify the trauma burden. RESULTSIn total, 2303 hospital admissions met the study criteria. Non-major injury accounted for 93.1% of events and 45.0% of injuries occurred during farming activities. Five people died in hospital; all injured while undertaking farm work. Males made up 84.8% of farm work and 70.9% of non-farm work injuries. Horse riding had the highest number of injuries, with off-road motorcycles, livestock, falls and quad bike injuries comprising the most common injury activities and mechanisms. Farming-related major injuries commonly involved quad bikes, non-traffic vehicles and motorcycles. Farmers in the Districts of Waitomo, Rotorua, Waipa and Taupō had the highest standardised hospitalisation rates. DISCUSSIONThe nature of farms and farming exposes people to different risks from the risks people in urban areas are exposed to. Injury prevention efforts should remain on work-related farming injuries, but also encompass the high number of injuries that are not related to farm work but happening on farms.

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Background: The literature has suggested that acceptable outcomes in elective general surgery can be achieved with registrars operating but is less clear with trauma surgery. Methods: This was a retrospective study of all laparotomies performed for adult trauma between 2012 and 2020 at a Level 1 Trauma Centre in New Zealand to identify potential differences in clinical outcomes between primary operators. The primary operator of each operation was identified, along with the presence or absence of a consultant and the clinical outcome. Results: During the 9-year study period, a total of 204 trauma laparotomies were performed at Waikato Hospital. The groups of the primary operators were: a registrar with a consultant present (27%), a registrar without a consultant present (22%), a registrar assisting a consultant (48%), and a consultant who operated without a registrar (3%). Direct comparison was made between the three groups where registrars were involved in the laparotomy. There was no significant difference in the clinical outcomes, whether a consultant was present or not. Conclusions: Surgical registrars have acceptable outcomes for trauma laparotomy in the appropriate patients. A consultant surgeon should still operate on patients with more significant physiological derangements.