Farm safety and health needs among limited resource farmersin selected counties of North Carolina

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Date

1999-10-13

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Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Virginia Tech

Abstract

The literature illustrates that agriculture continues to be the leader in the nation for accidents. The attitudes and behaviors of farmers and farm workers towards farm equipment and its safe use are major concerns. Farm safety education and research are strongly needed to prevent or reduce farm injuries. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate health and safety problems among limited resource farmers in selected counties of North Carolina. The survey method with a mail questionnaire was used to collect the data. The sample for this study consisted of 297 limited resource farmers in North Carolina.

Selected conclusions drawn from the findings were:

  1. The risks associated with limited resource farmers and their workers, such as use of tractors, machinery, and farm chemicals are very high.
  2. Farmers between the ages of 36-50 have higher expected injuries compared to other age groups.
  3. Training associated with the use of farm tractors, machinery, and personal protective equipment (PPE) is very essential for limited resource farmers.
  4. The research suggested that hazards exposed by using tractors without rollover protection structure (ROPS) could result in higher injuries among limited resource farmers and workers.

Selected recommendations:

  1. Federal and state governments should give incentives to farmers to encourage them to retrofit ROPS on their old tractors.
  2. Mandatory training should be required for small scale or limited resource farmers on utilization of farm equipment operation and personal protective equipment (PPE) utilization.
  3. New design of preventive guards and shields that can be easily removed or opened for maintenance and remounted or closed afterward are needed.

Description

Keywords

farm safety

Citation