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Rates of fatal occupational injuries in New York agriculture far outstrip the average for all American workers. Among its various approaches to this problem, the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) sponsored an On-Farm Safety Program that sought to reduce farm worksite hazards and to enhance understanding of safe farm practices through a two-step process. First, an on-farm hazard survey identified hazards that may lead to farm injury and suggested improvements to correct those hazards. Second, on-farm safety training sessions were offered to increase safety knowledge and influence adoption of safe work practices. Over a 2-year period, 124 farms were surveyed and 187 safety training sessions were conducted on a total of 271 New York farms. Follow-up phone surveys were conducted with 97 (78%) of the on-farm survey sites at roughly 6 months. Of the 97 survey farms that completed the telephone survey, 77 (79%) reported having made safety improvements. Hazards resolved tended to be less labor intensive and expensive than some of the other hazards observed. Ninety-six (99%) of the farms that completed the telephone follow-up survey found the on-farm visits useful and said that NYCAMH should continue to offer the On-Farm Safety Program. No data were collected to assess the impact of these efforts upon occupational injury and illness. This appears to be an effective means of outreach to heighten safety awareness of the farm population and to address some of the observed worksite hazards. It is unclear whether this approach substantially impacts the elevated risk of injury in agriculture.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Indiana 4-H Tractor Program by assessing the impact the program has had on alumni of the program. Past contestants of the state 4-H tractor-driving contest from the years 1982-1997 (N=233) were surveyed using a 30-item mailed questionnaire. A response rate of 72.4% was obtained for this census study. Respondents reported that the program was effective at teaching them to be safe tractor operators. They also believed that the program benefited them in other aspects of their life including general safety awareness. Respondents reported that they were involved in farming on a full or part-time basis (74%) or employed full-time in a mechanical or technology-related career (21%). The respondents self-reported involvement in a number of risky tractor operating behaviors including not wearing seat belts with ROPS-equipped tractors and allowing extra riders. Recommendations for improving the program include: (1) strengthening approaches for reducing risky behaviors, (2) developing up-to-date teaching materials, (3) conduct a future, more comprehensive study of past participants of the program, and (4) conduct a thorough evaluation of all of the program's components.

This intervention delivers agricultural safety information to Mennonite youth, grades 1 to 8 in their schools. The purpose is to reduce injuries in the Groffdale Conference, an Old Order Mennonite community in Yates County, New York. The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) assisted community members to create an appropriate farm safety presentation for Mennonite children. A vital aspect of this approach is that members of the Old Order community are the educators who are delivering the information in a culturally appropriate manner. As an outside organization, it is unlikely that NYCAMH would have access to this population to directly deliver youth farm safety education.

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