A Review of Health and Safety Leadership and Managerial Practices on Modern Dairy Farms

Details

• Personal Author:
  Douphrate DI ; Hagevoort GR ; Reynolds SJ
• Description:
  As modern dairy operations around the world expand, farmers are increasingly reliant on greater automation and larger numbers of hired labor to milk cows and perform other essential farm tasks. Dairy farming is among the most dangerous occupations, with high rates of injury, illness, and employee turnover. Lower education levels, illiteracy, and limited language proficiency increase the possibility of injury or death associated with higher risk occupations such as dairy. Sustaining a healthy, productive workforce is a critical component of risk management; however, many owners and managers have not received formal training in employee management or occupational health and safety. Optimal dairy farming management should address milk production that is sustainable and responsible from the animal welfare, social, economic, and environmental perspectives. Each of these aspects is interdependent with each other and with a sustainable, healthy, productive workforce. Very few studies address the effectiveness of risk management in the dairy industry. Studies suggest that labor management practices are a potential competitive advantage for dairy farms, but the connection with efficiency, productivity, and profitability has not been clearly demonstrated. Transformational leadership has been associated with improved safety climate and reduced incidence of injury, whereas passive leadership styles have opposite effects. There is a need to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of safety-specific transformational leadership among dairy owners and managers. A systematic approach to risk management should address worker health and safety as an integral component of production, food safety, and animal welfare. A successful program must address the cultural and linguistic barriers associated with immigrant workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Dairy Products Emigration And Immigration Farmers Livestock Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Workers Animal Handlers Animal Husbandry Workers Author Keywords: Dairy Cattle Dairy Products Immigrant Workers Injury Job Design Labor Relations Language Barrier Leadership Livestock Industry Management Management Personnel Risk Management Safety Safety Climate Safety Practices Supervisory Personnel Worker Motivation

  More +
• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Iowa ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  265-273
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052137
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 2013 Jul; 18(3):265-273
• Contact Point Address:
  David I. Douphrate, PhD, MPT, MBA, School of Public Health, University of Texas, San Antonio Regional Campus, One Technology Center, 7411 John Smith Drive Suite 1100, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
• Email:
  david.i.douphrate@uth.tmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado State University - Ft. Collins
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20030915
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  20270914
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4c2e2f933173a66dbbf78e85ef5f23ad74d77c0011983e07847d05839f71432a18365bbe13d105d8ba89dd2c2e01af017a21bd2f56faad6d269e61fc8f6db24f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211726/cdc_211726_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 293.03 KB ]