The Impact of Human Error in the Use of Agricultural Tractors: A Case Study Research in Vineyard Cultivation in Italy

Abstract

Recently, standards and regulations concerning occupational safety have become more and more rigorous. Nevertheless, the number of accidents and victims has not decreased significantly, as reported by official statistics. In Italy, the agricultural sector is certainly one of the most affected by this situation, especially taking into account the occurrence of serious injuries and fatalities related to the use of tractors. The main reasons for such a situation can be ascribed to the peculiarities of agricultural operations. Therefore, when analyzing the root causes of agricultural accidents, a user-centered approach is needed in order to make the development of health and safety interventions easier and more effective. Based on this, the present paper proposes a practical case study research focused on integrating the factor of human error into the risk assessment procedures of agricultural activities in vineyard cultivation. Such an approach allowed us to consider the impact of human error-while performing work activities (e.g., the use of a tractor)-on hazards and related hazardous events in a thorough manner. The proposed approach represents a novelty in the sector of the safety assessment of agricultural activities, providing a first valuable basis for further analysis and implementation by researchers and practitioners.

Preliminary Human Safety Assessment (PHSA) for the Improvement of the Behavioral Aspects of Safety Climate in the Construction Industry

“…In order to deal with such a complexity, Mitropoulos et al [7] highlighted the need of analyzing the characteristics of working tasks, given that the normative approaches hardly consider the characteristics of the working processes in a proper manner. As a matter of fact, the improvement of human safety relies on the reduction of the risks for the workers when performing specific working activities considering human factors [8]. Accordingly, specific work situations should be considered with more attention, since ensuring the safety of the various tasks is the precondition for ensuring a higher level of safety from both a project and an operative perspective [9].…”

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

“…In recent years, awareness of occupational health and safety (OHS) issues has increased worldwide thanks to both the efforts made by national and international legislators, who have developed stricter and more thorough normative frameworks, and the spread of new approaches to safety problems in workplaces relying on "safety culture" and "safety management" concepts [1][2][3][4]. However, the number of occupational accidents and fatalities is not decreasing sufficiently.…”

Applying Hierarchical Task Analysis to Depict Human Safety Errors during Pesticide Use in Vineyard Cultivation

“…In the agricultural field, several studies have investigated the safe behavior and risk perception of farmers. The human factors leading to accidents while using tractors were investigated by means of a task analysis approach, providing information of the farmers' safety attitude and behavior when dealing with this type of machinery [26]. Other studies have focused on the farmers' risk perception by means of scenarios related to the use of machinery and describing a real-life working situation [27]; the results showed that the farmers were aware of certain types of risks, particularly when these were associated to economic losses.…”