Safety Vision of Agricultural Tractors: An Engineering Perspective Based on Recent Studies (2009–2019)

Abstract

The high rate of injuries occurring in agricultural activities is of major concern in most countries, despite the ever-increasing efforts made at normative levels. In particular, the use of agricultural tractors is recognized as the most hazardous activity for farmers due to the large number of fatalities occurring every year. The aim of the present study was to investigate the recent developments in research activities dealing with tractor safety. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was carried out, taking into account engineering journal papers appearing in Scopus in the 2009–2019 period and focusing on tractor safety. As a result, 79 documents were selected and analyzed based on both their type (e.g., conceptual or empirical studies) and specific targets. They were then classified and discussed in accordance with a reference framework representing the main issues of agricultural tractor safety: mechanical hazards, protective devices, command and control, other hazards, ergonomics, information, conformity, and user behavior. The results of this analysis brought to light the need for a more human-centered approach when dealing with tractor safety. In addition, the lack of a reliable framework of technical standards was also stressed. Overall, despite the limitations due to the selection criteria, this study represents the first systematic literature review depicting the status of tractor safety in the engineering field, providing a basis for further research on the emerging themes outlined.

NOSACQ-50 for Safety Climate Assessment in Agricultural Activities: A Case Study in Central Italy

“…The growing awareness of the importance of safety in the agricultural activities has also led to an increasing amount of research, mostly focusing on the implementation of technical solutions aimed at improving the safety level of farmers [ 30 , 31 ]. Conversely, the analysis of work behavior and attitudes relevant to safety has not been addressed sufficiently, as stressed by Irwin and Poots [ 32 ].…”

Agricultural Tractor Roll-Over Related Fatalities in Italy: Results from a 12 Years Analysis

“…In Italy, 41.6% of the territory is classified as hilly, 35.2% is classified as mountain, and only the remaining 23.2% is flat land [25]. The regions having a large part of the agricultural area located in the hills and mountains highlighted the major part of the fatal accidents, so the work on slopes is confirmed as the main reason of fatal accident, being the poor dynamic stability condition recognized as the most powerful factor to cause an overturning [2,7,8,18,30].…”

“…Notwithstanding most agricultural injuries are due to errors in the systems of safety, it was ascertained that not only training [34] and personal protective equipment but also regulation of safety design, inspection/maintenance of workplaces, and mitigation devices play an important role in preventing agricultural injuries [35]. Regarding the mitigation devices, the research on protective systems of tractors is largely characterized by studies on ROPS, including those new types aimed at preventing the unsafe behavior of users, such as the AutoROPS, and the compact rollover protective structure (CROPS) [8]. Moreover, also the safety pictorials could help to improve the situation, even if a strong need for training courses focusing on these pictorials and their meanings, as well as the improvement in the comprehension of the pictorials themselves, as several studies have pointed out [27,28,[36][37][38], about two million tractors are working in Italy; 89% of tractors are over 10 years old, and their average life span is about 26 years.…”

“…Injuries caused by overturning can be limited by installing appropriate rollover protective structures (ROPS) together with a safety belt fixed to the driver's seat [8], but not all tractors are properly equipped. According to Reynolds and Groves [9], in the United States up to the year 2000, only 50% of tractors (4.8 million units) were equipped with protective structures, with 200 fatal events per year due to overturning.…”

“…Even the installation in retrofit of ROPS on old tractors can improve the situation. In a recent review of 79 papers published on Scopus in the 2009-2019 period, Fargnoli et al reported the retrofitting ROPS as the world's most relevant safety issue on older tractors [8]. In the United States, Reynolds and Groves [9] estimate that the addition of ROPS can result in a cost savings of $500,000 and $900,000 for each life saved, a figure comparable to actions taken in other working sectors to achieve the same goal.…”