Guidelines for evaluation of safety programs for the agricultural industry

A survey of Indiana farm home was conducted in the winter of 1994-1995 to establishrealistic baselines concerning child safety practices for populations in rural Indiana for the purpose of1) adjusting interventions to target specific issues where prevention efforts are most needed and 2)evaluating the effectiveness of safety efforts targeting rural Indiana families. A questionnaire wasdesigned to obtain baseline information for child safety practices on Indiana farms and a stratifiedrandom sample of 1,500 Indiana farms (arrayed by county) was selected from a population consistingof all 60,000 Indiana farms. Survey procedures involved two mailings, and phone interviews withnon-respondents, which yielded 597 useable questionnaires. Survey responses indicate that on Indianafarms where children reside or frequently visit, 63% of owners or operators allow children to ride aspassengers on tractors or combines, and 36% allow children to operate tractors. Survey responsessuggest that grandparents are more likely than parents to prohibit potentially dangerous farm activities(eg. riding on tractors, combines, and grain transport vehicles, and operating tractors and ATV’s),while parents are more likely to implement strategic safety practices (eg. having a fire escape plan,and obtaining CPR and first aid training). Survey results also show that Indiana farm families do notmeet national goals for the use of bicycle helmets, child seats, seatbelts, or smoke detectors. Glasscock D, Hansen O, Rasmussen K, Carstensen O, Lauritsen J. The West Jutland Study of FarmAccidents: a model for prevention. Safety Science 1997, 25: 105-112. Abstract: This article summarises the main elements of the West Jutland Study on the Prevention ofFarm Accidents, that was presented in four separate papers at the 1996 Occupational InjurySymposium in Sydney, Australia. The objective of the study is to develop and conduct an interventionon the basis of an initial investigation of risk factors, aimed at reducing the number of occupationalaccidents in a randomly selected, representative sample of Danish farms. The article focuses on theunderlying model used in the study, the methods and design employed, and the form and content ofthe intervention that is currently underway. Results will be presented at a later date. This article summarises the main elements of the West Jutland Study on the Prevention ofFarm Accidents, that was presented in four separate papers at the 1996 Occupational InjurySymposium in Sydney, Australia. The objective of the study is to develop and conduct an interventionon the basis of an initial investigation of risk factors, aimed at reducing the number of occupationalaccidents in a randomly selected, representative sample of Danish farms. The article focuses on theunderlying model used in the study, the methods and design employed, and the form and content ofthe intervention that is currently underway. Results will be presented at a later date. Lower T. Farmsafe Australia Yearbook 1993. Farmsafe Australia Agricultural Health Unit, MoreeNSW. Murphy D. Safety and health for production agriculture. Americal Society of Agricultural Engineers.USA, 1992.