Biofuels production is a fast growing and emerging industry. Occupational injuries are a serious problem due to their human, financial and social costs, yet little research has been published on injuries in the biofuels industry. Learning from past injuries are essential for preventing future occurrences, but the lack of injury information hinders this effort in the biofuels industry. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by utilizing data from over 900 workers' compensation claims reported from 2008 to 2016 by ethanol and biodiesel facilities in the U.S. to characterize injury costs and severity. The total amount paid for each claim was used as a measure of injury severity, and the effects of age, tenure, type of claim, body part injured, nature and, cause of injury on the cost of work-related injuries were investigated. Contingency tables were used to classify the variable pairs, chi-square test and chi-square residuals were employed to evaluate the relation between the variable pairs and identify the at-risk groups. Results showed age, tenure of employee, type of claim, body part injured, nature of injury and, cause of injury have a significant influence in determining the claim amount. Age group 46-50, tenure group 1-2 years, strain and fractures injuries, slips, falls, or trips and, injuries to lower extremities were some of the at-risk groups identified. The findings from the study will assist biofuel producers to develop precisely targeted safety interventions that are effective in preventing worker injuries and also mitigating the financial and social losses from occupational injuries.

Agriculture is a high-hazard industry that employs a large number of young workers below the age of 25. Recent studies have documented a strong positive correlation between quality management in agriculture and occupational safety as perceived by agricultural workers. Younger workers have been found to be at higher risk for occupational injuries and fatalities in agriculture. Furthermore, college students in agriculture have minimal exposure to safety and quality management principles in their coursework and thus may not be aware that the two concepts are associated. Little research has studied how young workers perceive the relationship between safety and quality and how these perceptions vary based on demographic characteristics. This study builds on prior research that measured the interactions between employee perceptions of safety and quality in an agricultural work environment. Data were collected using a survey instrument adapted from a previously validated instrument. Analysis of 1017 responses showed that students perceived a high impact of quality practices on the reduction of safety hazards and safety incidents. Students’ perceptions of quality and safety in agricultural work environments varied by gender, with female students perceiving the relationship between the two at a higher level than males. No significant difference in perceptions was observed based on students’ academic classification, age group, field of study, or childhood environment. This study demonstrates that despite limited academic training in safety and quality, pre-professionals perceive the implementation of quality management as a very important factor in mitigating safety hazards and safety incidents. In addition, this study suggests that current academic training in these disciplines must be modified, since no differences in students’ perceptions were observed based on academic classification or field of study.

for serving on my program of study committee and for their help and guidance throughout this project. I thank the mid-west based insurance company for their help with the data used in this study. I thank my fellow graduate students,

Workplace injuries in the grain handling industry are common, yet little research has characterized worker injuries in grain elevators across all hazard types. Learning from past injuries is essential for preventing future occurrences, but the lack of injury information for the grain handling industry hinders this effort. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by using data from over 7000 workers' compensation claims reported from 2008 to 2016 by commercial grain handling facilities in the U.S. to characterize injury costs and severity. The total amount paid for each claim was used as a measure of injury severity. The effects of employee age and tenure, cause of injury, and body part injured on the cost of work-related injuries were investigated. Contingency tables were used to classify the variable pairs. The chi-square test and chi-square residuals were employed to evaluate the relationship between the variable pairs and identify the at-risk groups. Results showed that the employee age and tenure, cause of injury, and body part injured have a significant influence on the cost paid for the claim. Several at-risk groups were identified as a result of the analyses. Findings from the study will assist commercial grain elevators in the development of targeted safety interventions and assist grain elevator safety managers in mitigating financial and social losses from occupational injuries.

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