Safety Climate in Agricultre

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in terms of occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths. Agricultural safety training, injury prevention programs, and safety regulations lag behind other comparable industries. The present study involved a macro-ergonomic approach to understand and improve safety climate on Colorado farms. Safety climate was defined as the perceptions of employees regarding the way safety was managed, and the subsequent safety behaviors that employees tend to engage in. Using a sample of Colorado corn farmers, the first two phases of this study utilized survey and interview data to establish that safety climate was important and valued, but required better safety training implementation. The study's final phase developed, implemented, and evaluated an educational safety seminar focusing on the application of safety climate. By integrating macro-ergonomic methods with the psychological construct of safety climate, this study cultivated safer work practices in agriculture.