Prevention of agricultural injuries: an evaluation of an education-based intervention.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of an agricultural health and safety program in reducing risks of injury.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
50 rural municipalities in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada.


METHODS
The Agricultural Health and Safety Network (AHSN), a mainly educational program that administered 112 farm safety interventions over 19 years.


METHODS
5292 farm people associated with 2392 Saskatchewan farms. Farms and associated farm people were categorized into three groups according to years of participation in the AHSN.


METHODS



CONCLUSIONS
self-reported prevalence of: (1) farm safety practices; (2) physical farm hazards.


RESULTS
(1) self-reported agricultural injuries.


RESULTS
After adjustment for group imbalances and clustering at the rural municipality level, the prevalence of all impact and outcome measures was not significantly different on farms grouped according to years of AHSN participation. To illustrate, the adjusted relative risk of reporting no rollover protection on tractors among farms with none (0 years) versus high (>8 years) levels of AHSN participation was 0.95 (95% CI 0.69 to 1.30). The adjusted relative risk for agricultural injuries (all types) reported for the year before the survey was 0.99 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.32).


CONCLUSIONS
Educational interventions delivered via the AHSN program were not associated with observable differences in farm safety practices, physical farm hazards, or farm-related injury outcomes. There is a need for the agricultural sector to extend the scope of its injury prevention initiatives to include the full public health model of education, engineering, and regulation.
Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
L M
LM
Hagel
W
W
Pickett
P
P
Pahwa
L
L
Day
R J
RJ
Brison
B
B
Marlenga
T
T
Crowe
P
P
Snodgrass
K
K
Ulmer
J A
JA
Dosman
D000056:Accident Prevention / Q000379:methods; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods; D012525:Saskatchewan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055815:Young Adult