Farm tractor fatalities: the failure of voluntary safety standards.

Abstract

There are no governmental standards for operator protection which require compliance by farm tractor manufacturers. To see how the Wisconsin farming population fares under voluntary safety standards, death certificate data were used to determine rates of tractor-associated fatal injuries.

Medical consequences of work-related accidents on 2,454 Swedish farms.

“…The pattern of injuries was heterogeneous; it reflected the varying nature and risks of agricultural work. Similar findings have been reported previously (2,9,12,13,24). As judged by the type and location of the injuries (table I), appropriate personal protective equipment would probably reduce the number and severity of injuries related to farm work .…”

“…The medical consequences have been described particularly in the United States (2,12,13,24). To aid the improvement of the use of personal safety equipment among agricultural workers , knowledge of the type and location of injuries would be important.…”

A Systematic Review of Interventions to Prevent Childhood Farm Injuries

“…[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] The studies varied widely in the interventions and outcomes studied, the types of injury targeted by the interventions, and the study design and methodologic rigor (QI range: [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Although all studies evaluated educational interventions, their focuses varied; 7 were designed for, or examined in, the school setting, [29][30][31][32][33][34][35] 12 were community-based, [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] and 1 was designed for use on the farm.…”

“…41 Two studies were classified as cluster RCTs, 35,47 5 were controlled trials, 29,33,41,46,48 4 used cohort designs, 39,40,44,45 1 was described as a quasiexperimental, separate-sample, pretest/posttest, control group design, 34 and 8 were before/after studies. [30][31][32][36][37][38]42,43 The studies were generally of moderate methodologic quality (median QI: 18; maximal score: 29; interquartile range [IQR]: [15][16][17][18][19]. Generally, most performed well on components assessing reporting (median score: 8 of 11; IQR: 6 -9) and bias (median: 6 of 7; IQR: 5-6).…”

“…16,17 Consequently, there is a reliance on voluntary safety standards, which may or may not be effective. 18 Farm groups have been known to resist actively the institution of rules and regulations. 16 This has resulted in farm children being exempt from most health and safety legislation despite the fact that they live and work in an occupational environment with known hazards.…”