Safety Leadership Training: Implementation and Effectiveness Evaluation in the Dairy Farm Industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Douphrate DI ; Hagevoort GR ; Hossein Javid A ; Kines P ; Pompeii L ; Rodriguez A
• Description:
  Background: Evidence-based interventions for the prevention of safety incidents at work are most effective when they include a focus on the hierarchy of controls. However, prior studies addressing the effects of safety leadership and safety climate are limited. The determination and adoption of evidence-based interventions specifically in the U.S. Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishing (AgFF) sector can be a challenge, and prior studies have shown a paucity of evidence-based occupational safety and health practices in the AgFF sector. Methods: We enrolled 73 dairy farm supervisors from 27 U.S. farms to participate in a 12-module dairy leadership training program. We employed the Kirkpatrick Model (KM) to evaluate different levels of training effectiveness. Findings: Participant reactions to the program were positive (KM level 1), and evaluation of knowledge gained among participants revealed 90% had learned new safety leadership information (KM level 2) that could be applied in their role as a dairy farm supervisor (KM level 3). Nearly 88% reported favorable experiences during their training participation. Post-training group interviews with supervisors (n = 21) provided information regarding training experiences and constructive feedback regarding opportunities for training improvement. Behavior change evaluation revealed nearly 50% of observed safety hazards on farms were related to livestock handling (21.6%), trips/falls (17.1%), and moving machinery (10.4%). The largest percentage of observed workplace conflicts were verbal (27.8%). Conclusions/Application to Practice: The application of the Kirkpatrick Model of training evaluation suggests participating dairy farm supervisors had positive experiences with the training program, and acquired safety hazard and workplace conflict identification skills. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Animal Husbandry Workers Author Keywords: Safety Leadership Dairy Farm E-learning Evaluation Farm Workers Hierarchy Of Controls Intervention Effectiveness Supervisors Supervisory Personnel Training Training Effectiveness

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• ISSN:
  2165-0799
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Colorado ; Dallas Region [OSHA] ; Denver Region [OSHA] ; New Mexico ; Ohio ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070772
• Citation:
  Workplace Health Saf 2025 Mar; :[Epub ahead of print]
• Contact Point Address:
  David I. Douphrate, PhD, MPT, MBA, CPE, CSP, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, 212 Adriance Lab Road, College Station, TX 77843, USA
• Email:
  douphrate@tamu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado State University - Ft. Collins
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20030915
• Source Full Name:
  Workplace Health & Safety
• End Date:
  20270914
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4d5740122f1f4248a3c012b8ddff59a94e4394a0c9632252f9f18fdb273b433a76137da069032850216008dbd8e91e11348299ace3f17fe6e52fe43dc034fd41
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208929/cdc_208929_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 283.36 KB ]