Use of Protective Equipment Among California Farmers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Orenstein MR ; Samuels SJ ; Schenker MB
• Description:
  Background: Agriculture is a hazardous industry associated with many occupational injuries and illnesses. We describe California farmers' self-reported exposure to five agricultural hazards and their use of protective equipment. Methods: A telephone survey of 1,947 California farmers recorded information on occupational exposure, health outcomes and use of protective equipment to lessen risk from exposure to dust, sun, noise, pesticides and tractors. Results: Over 93% of respondents reported using personal protection around pesticides; however, fewer than 1/3 used consistent protection against other hazards. Younger age and male sex were associated with better use of protection from dust, noise, pesticide and tractors, but negatively associated with sun protection. There was no consistent relationship of protective behaviors with cigarette smoking, living on the farm, marital status, or time in non-administrative farmwork. Risk perception was strongly associated with behavior; farmers concerned about specific health problems were much more likely to use protective equipment. Conclusions: Some farmer characteristics are associated with more safe behaviors, but efforts to encourage protective behaviors on farms should be broadly based in view of a lack of a single risk-taking profile among California farmers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Insecticides Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety
• Keywords:
  Injuries Noise Levels Occupational Exposure Pesticides Protective Equipment Tractors
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  455-464
• Volume:
  42
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032465
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2002 Nov; 42(5):455-464
• Contact Point Address:
  Marc B. Schenker, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, TB168, Davis, CA 95616-8638
• Email:
  schenker@epm.ucdavis.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19900930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2a6b2465fe662127d078e9a07f26be4d97363518f27ab214172e0db04a87c8b1207ace28771f67bae0fbf797494a5022bff895e849a0721b98127b0eba0629a8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186419/cdc_186419_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 166.06 KB ]