Injuries to Tobacco Farmers in Kentucky

Details

• Personal Author:
  Reed DK ; Struttmann TW
• Description:
  Like all types of farming, raising tobacco has many hazards that may lead to injury, disability, or death. Burley tobacco farming is a multistep process that is not highly mechanized. An 8-year emergency department surveillance system in Kentucky identified 674 injury cases related to the production of burley tobacco. Most of the injuries were a result of a fall, cutting and piercing instruments, or sprains and strains. More than 90% of the injured patients were treated as outpatients, and the average charge for emergency room services was $402 (range, $0 to $14,729). One quarter of the patients were uninsured. Injuries to Hispanic workers increased over the 8-year period. Estimated hospital charge per acre of tobacco produced ranged from $1.28 to $1.74. Low-cost interventions such as gloves and chaps could reduce the injuries incurred in burley tobacco farming. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Tobacco Products
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-workers Injury-prevention Safety-measures Safety-practices Safety-programs Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs Tobacco-industry Work-analysis Work-operations
• ISSN:
  0038-4348
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  95
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033507
• Citation:
  South Med J 2002 Aug; 95(8):850-856
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  Kentucky Department of Health Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19930930
• Source Full Name:
  Southern Medical Journal
• End Date:
  20060831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b1198b3e5355628b9c2da0fbc32c69067170f2a425dd76f3fe353b1c53153da8d00ff8db590b6f87de7e1ec67d1816c939c415778e9bef2c98804e5fe39609be
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/189047/cdc_189047_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 59.22 KB ]