Australian farm work injuries: incidence, diversity and personal risk factors.
Information on farm work-related injuries was sought to assist in the design of effective farm safety prevention programs. A telephone survey was conducted using a stratified random sample of 919 sheep/wool, beef cattle and dryland broadacre cropping farms from three shires in the wheat/sheep belt of New South Wales. The adjusted response rate was 84%. There were 425 reported injuries over an 18-month period. One in five farms reported at least one injury per year, while one in 12 farms reported at least one serious injury per year. Animal-related injuries were the largest major category for agent of injury, while the largest category for nature of injury was sprain and strain, recording almost one-quarter of all injuries. The farm workshop or shed was the most common location of injury, with more than 20% of all reported injuries occurring there. Personal risk factors thought to contribute to these farm work-related injuries were examined. The statistically significant personal risk factors for injury occurrence were age (and/or experience), previous injury status, body mass index, hours of sleep, a variable measuring daytime drowsiness and a variable measuring perceived stress.
Low
J M
JM
NSW Agriculture, Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Armidale, Australia.
Griffith
G R
GR
Alston
C L
CL
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003710:Demography; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control