Review and Meta-analysis of Emerging Risk Factors for Agricultural Injury

Abstract

Agricultural injury is a significant public health problem globally. Extensive research has addressed this problem, and a growing number of risk factors have been reported. The authors evaluated the evidence for frequently reported risk factors earlier. The objective in the current study was to identify emerging risk factors for agricultural injury and calculate pooled estimates for factors that were assessed in two or more studies. A total of 441 (PubMed) and 285 (Google Scholar) studies were identified focusing on occupational injuries in agriculture. From these, 39 studies reported point estimates of risk factors for injury; 38 of them passed the Newcastle-Ottawa criteria for quality and were selected for the systematic review and meta-analysis. Several risk factors were significantly associated with injury in the meta-analysis. These included older age (vs. younger), education up to high school or higher (vs. lower), non-Caucasian race (vs. Caucasian), Finnish language (vs. Swedish), residence on-farm (vs. off-farm), sleeping less than 7-7.5 hours (vs. more), high perceived injury risk (vs. low), challenging social conditions (vs. normal), greater farm sales, size, income, and number of employees on the farm (vs. smaller), animal production (vs. other production), unsafe practices conducted (vs. not), computer use (vs. not), dermal exposure to pesticides and/or chemicals (vs. not), high cooperation between farms (vs. not), and machinery condition fair/poor (vs. excellent/good). Eighteen of the 25 risk factors were significant in the meta-analysis. The identified risk factors should be considered when designing interventions and selecting populations at high risk of injury.

Occupational injuries and diseases among commercial fishers in Finland 1996–2015

“…It is also noteworthy, that mother tongue of the insured fishers had a significant association with the odds of injury, likely due to under-reporting among Swedish speaking fishers. A similar potential underreporting of injuries has also been observed in Finnish farmers [11][12][13]. The reasons for the difference in injury risk for both gender and mother tongue would require further studies.…”

Investigation of UK Farmer Go/No-Go Decisions in Response to Tractor-Based Risk Scenarios

“…By understanding how farmers perceive and manage different types of risk, potential problem areas could be identified, and specific interventions developed. 14 Based on agricultural research and safety reports, there are several categories of risk that might influence tractor safety, including; factors related to the self, such as stress, ill health and tiredness. 15 Factors related to the mechanics of the tractor, such as maintenance and equipment functionality.…”

“…Scenarios were constructed based on guidelines to safe tractor use, avoidance of hazards by the HSE 16 and research indicating potential factors that could influence driver performance. 14 The style of each scenario adhered to the recommended structure for a go/nogo scenario within aviation and healthcare 17,18 whereby each scenario was short (maximum two sentences) and described a task based on real-life to provide context. For example, the scenario detailing tiredness was as follows: 'You have had a busy weekend on the farm and didn't get to bed last night until 5am.…”

Work safety interventions and threat complexity – A formative investigation into why farmers do not act safely

“…It is well known that agricultural work is dangerous [1,2,3,4] and that the key to reducing occupational injury, illness and death, starts with identifying safety risks, and then taking measures to remove or mitigate them [5]. Over the years, numerous interventions attempting to inform about and reduce occupational safety risk have taken place on farms, but with marginal effectiveness [5,6,7,8].…”