title: Safety signs on agricultural machinery: Pictorials do not always successfully convey their messages to target users.
abstract: This study investigated the extent to which a sample of Italian users comprehended safety pictorials used on agricultural machinery. A questionnaire with 12 safety pictorials was administered to 248 users of agricultural machinery. For each of the pictorials, the participants were asked to select the most appropriate description of four written choices. The investigated safety pictorials were, in general, not well comprehended. Two different classes of participants were identified, each with a different level of comprehension. The participants with better comprehension were characterized by the regular use of agricultural machinery and frequent previous exposure to pictorials. The need for training courses focusing on safety pictorials and their meanings, as well as the need for improvement to the pictorials themselves to make them more easily comprehended, is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Strada delle Cacce, 73, 10135, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caffaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological, Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, ed. 15, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mirisola
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Strada delle Cacce, 73, 10135, Torino, Italy. Electronic address: e.cavallo@imamoter.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cavallo
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture / Q000295:instrumentation*; D032882:Comprehension; D000067565:Farmers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011356:Product Labeling / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012449:Safety; D012660:Semantics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Agriculture; Pictorial comprehension; Safety