Hidden Occupational Fatalities in the Agricultural Industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen PY ; Stallones L
• Description:
  In this chapter, we attempt to continue raising awareness about a hidden occupational fatality, self-inflicted injury. Self-inflicted fatality, or suicide, is arguably viewed as a hidden occupational fatality because suicide is not defined as occupationally related unless the worker chose to end his or her life at their place of employment (Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 2004a). In reality, approximately 75 percent of suicides occur in a house or apartment, followed by natural areas, streets or highways, or in motor vehicles (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2007). Thus, it is not surprising that few suicides at work are seen in the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries database. For instance, there were 242 occupational fatalities in the State of Colorado from 2004 to 2006. Among them, there are only 11 suicide cases that occurred at the workplace. It has long been suspected that suicidal tendencies may, to some degree, be affected by occupation (Blachly et al., 1963; Kposowa, 1999; Liu and Waterbor, 1994; van Wijngaarden, 2003). High rates of suicide in the agricultural industry in different countries have been reported over many years, with farm workers often among the highest reported. Based on all suicide records in New Zealand between 2001 and 2005, Gallagher, Kliem, Beautrais and Stallones (2008) revealed that workers in farming, fisheries, or forestry had high suicide rates compared to workers in other occupations. Page and Fragar (2002) also reported higher suicide rates among male farm workers in Australia than rates in the male national population, and rates in the rural population. Recently we compared suicide rates among farm workers in Colorado, with Colorado population for two time periods: 1990-1999 (derived from Colorado death certificate files) and 2004-2006 (derived from Colorado Violent Death Reporting System). Part of our initial findings (Stallones et al., 2010) showed that the average annual suicide rate per 100 000 was 263.9 for male farm workers vs. 31.5 for the general male population, 56.1 for female farm workers vs. 8.1 for the general female population between 1990 and 1999; 226 among male farm workers vs. 67.3 among the general male population, and 37.4 among female farm workers vs. 18.5 among the general female population from 2004 to 2006. The high rate of suicide among farm workers sends an alarming signal for four main reasons. First, suicide rates among farm workers seem disproportionately high, compared to other occupations, considering farm workers represent less than 0. 7 percent of employees in 2009 (BLS, 2004b ). Second, it has been estimated that there are 25 suicide attempts for every suicide completion (American Association for Suicidology, 2006). In other words, high suicide rates for farm workers only reflect the tip of iceberg, which suggests that mental health problems may be much more severe in the agricultural industry than has previously been acknowledged. Third, people who attempt suicide and survive often have disabling injuries such as brain damage, para- or quadriplegia, organ failure, depression, and other mental health problems. Finally, suicide affects the health and safety of families, job sites and the farming community. In the situation of farm workers the impact most likely falls on the surviving family members and in the case of a farm owner, the family may not be able to keep the farm operating with the loss of a key contributor to the farm work. In addition, farming communities can be small close-knit groups and a suicide death in the community may have a profound impact on the well-being of the overall community. Neighbors, friends and family as well as other farm workers may feel shock, anger, guilt and depression. The medical costs and lost wages associated with suicide as well as those who are affected would take a great toll on the industry (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Insecticides Livestock Mortality Occupational Health Organophosphates Risk Assessment Safety Sex Characteristics Stress, Psychological Suicide

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural Chemicals Agricultural Workers Farm Workers Fatalities Gender Factors Job Stress Livestock Industry Organophosphorus Pesticides Psychological Responses Risk Analysis Sex Factors

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• ISBN:
  9781848446694
• Publisher:
  Edward Elgar
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant ; Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  69-80
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052284
• Citation:
  Occupational health and safety for small and medium sized enterprises. Kelloway EK, Cooper CL, eds. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar, 2012 Jan; :69-80
• Editor(s):
  Kelloway EK; Cooper CL
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Colorado, Denver
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20070701
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational health and safety for small and medium sized enterprises
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:13617927758d1f33f23f722b8d424c792e649fa21f021edb6f54f1b64f9a4bfa4fe904d83580582d9988f1664f064e3dfd23983536b874457b5b2193165fbc27
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211835/cdc_211835_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 508.65 KB ]