4. Epidemiology of farm-related accidents
• Non-fatal injury – grossly under-reported,
especially in self-employed (c. 5% report rate?)
• Major injury – 242/100,000 employees sustained
major injury = 2x any other industry
• Fatalities - Less than 1.5% employed in agriculture,
yet accounts for 15-20% of work-related fatality
• 436 fatalities in last 10 years (32% employees, 56%
self-employed, 12% members of public)
• Among self-employed fatalites, a quarter were
over 65
• i.e. 43 fatalities each year – nearly 1 per week!
Source: Health & Safety Executive
5. Causes of major injury and death
• Transport (being run over or vehicle overturns, includes
tractors, forklifts, quad-bikes etc.) – 26%
• Falls (through fragile roofs, ladders, trees etc.) – 16%
• Struck by moving or falling objects (bales, trees, etc.) - 16%
• Asphyxiation/drowning - 10% (e.g. falls into grain-bin)
• Livestock-related fatalities - 10%
• Direct contact with machinery - 8% (e.g. amputations from
threshers, augers, PTO shafts etc.)
• Trapped by something collapsing
or overturning - 6%
• Burns e.g. combine fires – 5%
• Contact with electricity - 3% PTO shaft: particularly problematic
6.
7.
8. Types of farm-related injury
• Minor - cuts and bruises
• Severe - deep wounds and fractures
• Permanent – amputations and spinal cord
injury
• Fatal injury
9. Causes of farm-related ill-health
• Occupational related e.g. ‘Farmer’s lung’
• Pesticide poisoning
• Zoonotic infections e.g. TB
• Musculoskeletal problems from repetitive
movements or uncomfortable driving position
10. Farm injury – a special challenge
• High proportion of self-employed and family-
based farms
• Self-employed numbers increased as
workforce declined due to mechanisation and
reduced need for employees e.g. our farm: 8
workers/foremen in 1960 to just Dad in 2009
• Increasing age of self-employed, especially
with less pressure on young to ‘take over’
(12% of fatalities in over 65s)
11. STRUCTURAL: ageing workforce,
self-employment, migrant
workers & language barriers,
increased public access to
farmland
ENVIORNMENTAL: time (often
no daylight) and adverse
weather conditions e.g. wet
harvest
ECONOMIC: low productivity,
marginal returns, low
investment; especially in
health/safety measures
TECHNICAL: naturally
hazardous environments;
heavy machinery, poor
maintenance.
BEHAVIOURAL/CULTURAL: culture
of resourcefulness, unwise risk
taking and unsafe practices,
resistance to officialdom; see
regulation and red tape as a burden
INADEQUEATE TRAINING:
particularly in the middle-aged
and elderly sections of the
farming community
HISTORIC LACK OF INTEREST in the
industry on health and safety
FARM
INJURY
Farm injury – a special challenge
SEASONAL: greater workload
and pressures in narrower
timeframe i.e. harvest
WORKING ALONE in hazardous
conditions
12. Prevention
• No simple fix – needs shift in culture
• New generation of farmers brought up in ‘age’
of health and safety
• Cochrane review of RCTs and case-control:
No evidence for educational interventions
(included leaflets, safety training days,
presentations by injured farmers)
Evidence for financial incentives offered to
farmers to bring about change
Source: Rautiainen et. Al (2009)
13. Prevention
• As of 1st October 2012, HSE now charge
£124/hour for any accident investigations or
‘interventions’ in farm safety (FFI)
• Shifts costs of implementing safer
environments from public purse direct to
individual farmer
• Farmers urged to avoid these costs
Source: Health & Safety Executive
14. References
• Painting: Nora Othic, Ashby Hodge Gallery of American Art.
• Health and Safety Executive: http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/hsagriculture.htm
• Guidance on FFI: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse47.pdf
• Rautiainen R. et al (2009). Interventions for preventing injuries in the agricultural
industry. The Cochrane Library. Issue 3.
