Demetra: A Survey on Work Safety in 103 Agricultural Farms in Friuli Venezia Giulia

Definition of a Methodology for Gradual and Sustainable Safety Improvements on Farms and Its Preliminary Applications

“…The analytical tools developed by the Demetra project for small and micro farms demonstrated that it is possible, with the correct analysis of accident risk levels, to ensure safety in agricultural contexts and confirmed that safety targets should be regarded not only as a cost but also as an investment which improves productivity, through the reduction/elimination of work-related injuries or deaths [2,6,9,10,12]. The project succeeded in raising the awareness and increasing the understanding of the farmers involved in this experiment, especially in cases of family-run farms whose owners decided to raise safety levels above the minimum required by Italian law.…”

“…The Demetra project demonstrated, by means of a new analytical methodology, how a process of gradual and continuous improvement can increase the level of organizational and operational safety [9][10][11][12][13]. The analytical tools developed by the Demetra project for small and micro farms demonstrated that it is possible, with the correct analysis of accident risk levels, to ensure safety in agricultural contexts and confirmed that safety targets should be regarded not only as a cost but also as an investment which improves productivity, through the reduction/elimination of work-related injuries or deaths [2,6,9,10,12].…”

“…Farms also showed a range of activities involving subcontractors that are not managed in compliance with the specific Italian regulations [9][10][11][14][15][16].…”

“…The Demetra project therefore aims to analyze: -Those farms where machinery is used; -Farms where manual processes are still common (pruning and harvesting represent a particularly high biomechanical risk); -Farms that carry out activities where they interact with other farms [9,10].…”