Agricultural Injuries: Risk Factors and Severity by Affected Body Part Among US (Midwest) Farmers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beseler CL ; Ouattara BS ; Rautiainen RH
• Description:
  Objectives: Statistics from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that agriculture consistently ranks as the most hazardous industry in the US. To identify specific targets for prevention, we investigated injury risk factor profiles separately for each injured body site. We also characterized the severity of agricultural injuries by injured body site using the type of medical care and lost work time due to injury. Methods: We used the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) surveillance data for 2018 to perform descriptive statistics and regression modeling. Results: We found that 12% (513/4351) of the participants experienced one or more injuries in the previous 12 months. Compared to female operators, male operators had 3.53 (95% CI: 1.17- 10.68) times higher odds of back injury. Operators in livestock production had 2.77 times (95% CI:1.12-6.82), 2.28 times (95% CI:1.25-4.14), and 1.69 times (95% CI:1.10-2.59) higher odds of injury to the chest/trunk, finger, and leg/knee/hip, respectively, compared to operators in crop or mixed production. After adjusting for age and gender, operators who worked full time (vs. parttime) on the farm/ranch had 2.11 times (95% CI:1.03-4.34) higher odds of back injury. Arm/shoulder and leg/knee/hip injuries were more frequent in older age groups. Conclusions: Prevention measures should be tailored considering specifically livestock producers with emphasis on trainings on proper livestock handling, such as being gentle, establishing routine, keeping distance, and avoiding sudden and loud noise when handling animals. Applying these techniques avoid startling the animals and reduce the risk of injuries. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Agriculture Livestock Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Safety
• Keywords:
  Age Groups Author Keywords: Agricultural Injuries Back Injuries Body Part Injuries Livestock Industry Lost Work Days Preventive Measures Risk Factors Surveillance
• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Nebraska ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  214-223
• Volume:
  28
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066136
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 2023 Apr; 28(2):214-223
• Contact Point Address:
  Balkissa S Ouattara, Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
• Email:
  balkissa.ouattara@unmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Nebraska Medical Center - Omaha
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  20270831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3259bc1803a9dd8dd4b15f00f45d4c766ec8dea2ca457b941d05d9087faa103cb2a95dab8b9062dbfe2aa918858e768d652ce609de0a6aa608e3841c0c12fa28
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212644/cdc_212644_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 745.64 KB ]