Agriculture into the Future: New Technology, New Organisation and New Occupational Health and Safety Risks?

Abstract

Agriculture is a hazardous industry, with a high frequency of injuries. As working life has changed over the last decades, so has also agriculture. In Norway, farm size has increased, and agriculture has become technology intensive with a high amount of automated milking systems (AMS) and is now more dependent on hired help. The aim of the study is by sociotechnical system theory to explore how a new generation of farmers describe their work organisation in relation to occupational health and safety. The study is an explorative interview study at five farms having implemented AMS. An open interview guide was used. The interviews were recorded and thereafter transcribed. Analyses were based on the balance-theory with the domains technology, organisation, physical environment, task design, and individual characteristics. The results show that AMS changes the farm as a sociotechnical work system. AMS is considered a relief with regards how tasks become less physically demanding, less time consuming, and with less animal contact. On the other hand, cognitive demands increase. The results indicate that the technology increases both complexity and vulnerability, these factors being less considered by the farmers. The findings underline the importance of farmers' increasing awareness of their role as a manager and for an increased system perspective.

Developing an integrated conceptual framework for monitoring and controlling risks related to occupational health and safety

“…Risks related to occupational health and safety have increased in industries that have become more complex with the technological development (Huang & Ren, 2010, Myers, 2007. In addition, technological tools have been increasingly used, and new safety technologies have been developed; however, they are not sufficient for improving occupational health and safety (Antwi-Afari, 2019, Holte et al, 2018, Gao et al, 2019, Tang et al, 2019, Awolusi et al, 2018& Tatić & Tešić, 2017. The past and present technologies must be accurately analyzed, and information that sheds light on the future must be obtained to use business resources efficiently and assist in investment decisions.…”

“…The use of technological tools for improving occupational health and safety has become extremely important in today's increasingly complex businesses (Dündar, 2018). Many studies of the effectiveness of safety technologies regarding employees have been conducted (e.g., Antwi-Afari, 2019, Gao et al, 2019, Holte et al, 2018, Awolusi et al, 2018, Badri et al, 2018& Yavuz, 2018, and the development of safety technologies has been investigated (e.g., Dehghani Madvar et al, 2019, Tatić & Tešić, 2017, Niu et al, 2019, Wu & Liz, 2019, Zhou et al, 2018& Podgorski et al, 2017. The monitoring and forecasting technologies developed to ensure occupational health and safety in production and service systems will be an inspiration for the required technologies in this field.…”

Agriculture in Transition: New Strategies for the Promotion of Occupational Health and Safety

“…Various OHS risk factors may be eliminated or reduced by new technologies. Norwegian dairy farmers who implemented automated milking systems (AMS) experienced reduced physical strain and more efficient production [23,24,25]. They were also more satisfied with safety and the working environment [26].…”

“…They were also more satisfied with safety and the working environment [26]. However, increased cognitive demands due to 24/7 system operation, including production of large amounts of data is requiring new competencies [25]. New technologies and smart farming may require new capabilities that potentially disrupt established ways of processing knowledge and thus contribute to the loss of tacit knowledge [20].…”

“…To show the analytical and practical application of the framework we will use implementation of AMS as an example. Starting with the innermost circle, the local work system [28] was used as an analytical tool in a paper studying AMS and new occupational health and safety risks [25]. The study found AMS altering the whole dynamic within the local work system.…”