- - AGRICULTURAL CORE CURRICULUM - - (CLF1000) Core Area: AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT (CLF1800) Unit Title: SAFETY IN AGRIBUSINESS OPERATIONS ____________________________________________________________________________ (CLF1801) Topic: FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE Time Year(s) TO FARM ACCIDENTS 2 3 / 4 ____________________________________________________________________________ Topic Objectives: Upon completion of this lesson, the student will be able to: Learning Outcome #: (B-1) - List factors that contribute to farm accidents. Special Materials and Equipment: References: American Journal of Industrial Medicine [3 Special Issues]. (1990). Agricultural Occupational and Environmental Health: Policy Strategies for the Future - The Scientific Basis (Part I, Part II, Part III). New York: Wiley-Liss (Volume 18, No. 2, 3, 4). Baker, L., Field, W., Schnieder, R., Young, C., Parsons, R., & Murphy, D. (1986). FARM ACCIDENT RESCUE. Available from: Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley- Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, (607) 255-7654. (Also available from state Cooperative Extension System.) Deere & Company. (1987). AGRICULTURAL SAFETY (3rd ed.) (Fundamentals of Machine Operation (FMO) Series). Available from: John Deere Technical Services, Dept. F, John Deere Road, Moline, IL 61265 (Available in Spanish) Deere & Company. (1981). TRACTORS (2nd ed.) (Fundamentals of Machine Operation (FMO) Series). Available from: John Deere Technical Services, Dept. F, John Deere Road, Moline, IL 61265 (Available in Spanish & French) Deere & Company. (1991). PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE. (4th ed.). (Fundamentals of Machine Operation (FMO) Series). Available from: John Deere Technical Services, Dept. F, John Deere Road, Moline, IL 61265 (Available in Spanish) Ingersoll, Bruce. (1989, July 20). Perilous Profession: Farming is Dangerous but Fatalistic Farmers Oppose Safety Laws. The Wall Street Journal, pp. A1, A4. Knudson, Tom. (1984, Sept. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23). A Harvest of Harm: The Farm-health Crisis. Available from: Des Moines Register, P. O. Box 957, Des Moines, IA 50304. Murphy, D. J., Pollock, J., Smith, G., Bean, T., & Sailus, M. (1989). FIRST ON THE SCENE (Farm Safety Series). Available from: NRAES, Coop. Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853. (607) 255-7604. (Other farm safety publications: FARM ACCIDENT RESCUE (cited above), EXTINGUISHING SILO FIRES, FIRE CONTROL IN LIVESTOCK BUILDINGS; USED FARM EQUIPMENT: ASSESSING QUALITY, SAFETY AND ECONOMICS.) Publications also available from state Cooperative Extension System.) University of California. (1990). Health Concerns of Living and Working in Agricultural California: Report of a Conference Held at the University of California, Davis, June 6 and 7, 1990. Available from: Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, 322 Warren Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. Evaluation: TOPIC PRESENTATION: FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO FARM ACCIDENTS A. Farming is the most dangerous occupation in the United States. 1. Approximately 55 out of every 100,000 farmers die in on-the-job accidents each year; the average death rate for all occupations is 11 per 100,000. Farming is 5 times more dangerous than the average occupation. a. Every year for as long as records have been kept, about 1,600 farmers have been killed [National Safety Council, 1987]. b. Every year 300 youngsters under the age of 16 die in farm-related accidents (one out of every five fatal farm accidents). 2. Disabling injuries in the field of agriculture are about 58 per 1,000 people; the average for all industries is 18 per 1,000. a. Nationally, 170,000 farmers suffer traumatic disabling injuries; others suffer farm-related illnesses; 23,500 youngsters under age 16 are hurt. b. In California, about 22,000 non-fatal disabling injuries are recorded each year; this is 66 people every day. 3. Due to the erratic and often nonexistent methods of collecting statistics on farm-related deaths and injuries, it is estimated that the actual death and injury rates could be as much as 50% higher than officially reported. a. About 95 percent of U.S. farms have fewer than 10 employees and no statistics are collected from injuries and deaths on those farms. Such farms are often very dangerous and many of the people killed and injured are members of the farmer's family who are exempt from safety laws and regulations. b. In Iowa, according to statistics collected from 1,400 farms with 10 or more employees, the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents and work-related illnesses jumped from 293 in 1979 to 840 in 1982. 4. The death and injury rate among farmers and farmworkers costs the U.S. economy more than $3 billion per year. a. Agriculture receives very low federal financial support for safety (less than 10% of the average expenditure per worker for all occupations). 5. Despite agriculture's pivotal role in the economy of California and the U.S., health and safety problems that are extremely serious for people employed in agriculture and for the future of the agricultural industry have been largely ignored. a. In 1984, 10.4 million farmers and farmworkers raised enough food to feed more than 225 million people; food exports alone were over $30 billion. b. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture spends about 30 cents per year on each farmer's safety. c. The U.S. Dept. of Labor spends about $180 per year on each miner's safety. d. The agricultural revolution that began about 35 years ago brought pesticides, fertilizers, bigger machinery, bumper crops, and increased hazards for anyone working on a farm. Many of the hazards stem from new technology; however, in the absence of effective health and safety programs to prevent or control the problems, they continue and the costs (both direct and indirect) increase. e. Accident and injury rates in other occupations have improved over time (mining became less dangerous than agriculture in 1983; vehicles used in construction have been required to have rollover protection structures for many years), but there has been no improvement in the field of agriculture for approximately 30 years. Why? One person active in the field of agricultural health and safety remarked, "Our efforts have been too little, not comprehensive, not coordinated, not imaginative, not evaluated, and detached from grass roots active involvement." f. Farm constituency groups have been primarily concerned with increasing production instead of with decreasing accidents and occupational illnesses. g. Most textbooks in the fields of agricultural mechanics and agricultural business management do not even mention safety. 6. Agriculture has historically been viewed as separate from other industries. However, this special status has tended to conceal the comparative disadvantages agricultural workers suffer in occupational health and safety protection. a. The high accident rate in agriculture is not an accident; it is rather the predictable consequence of specific management choices. b. Because death and injury in agricultural work are largely both predictable and preventable, they could be more effectively managed. B. The following factors contribute to the high rate of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities in agriculture: 1. Disproportionately High Exposure to Risk Factors a. Dangerous occupations such as mining, logging, and transportation have well-known risks that can be guarded against and often controlled; however, agricultural work simply has more and more dangerous and unpredictable risk factors than most other occupations. b. Workers in the field of agriculture are exposed to multiple and serious risk factors simultaneously. For example, heavy machinery operators in factories are exposed to the risks associated with moving machinery but they are not simultaneously exposed to bad weather, hazardous chemicals, poisonous plants, animals, physical isolation, and long distance from medical care in the event of an accident. Examples of risks routinely found in agricultural workplaces are: 1) Chemical hazards - pesticides (which can enter the body through the skin, through breathing, and through swallowing) There are many different kinds of pesticides, producing many different symptoms, requiring many different kinds of treatment. Moreover, pesticides can have serious long-term effects in addition to their more or less severe short-term effects. - fertilizers (for example, anhydrous ammonia) Because anhydrous (meaning "without water") ammonia is completely lacking water, it absorbs water from the skin very quickly. It can cause painful skin burns and also burn by freezing. A worker who wears contact lenses is especially at risk; mild exposure irritates eyes, nose, and lungs and may cause blindness, while prolonged exposure leads to suffocation. - volatile and/or flammable substances (for example, gasoline, diesel fuel, hydraulic fluid) Machinery accidents often involve fire in addition to mechanical injuries. - dangerous gases (from welding fumes, manure pits, silos, hog confinement buildings) In Iowa, an estimated 67% of workers in hog buildings become ill from poisonous gases and bacteria in the air. Below-ground manure pits often cause 2- 3 deaths per accident. Why? The first victim enters the pit and immediately passes out; a nearby person attempts a rescue and also passes out, and so on (sometimes up to 5 victims). The primary hazard in manure pits is hydrogen sulfide gas, which, in high concentrations such as when the pit is being agitated for pumping out, causes unconsciousness after a breath or two and death within seconds. Entering a below- ground manure pit without a self-contained breathing apparatus and rescue line is suicide. Other gases which may be present in toxic quantities in manure pits are ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane (which is highly explosive). 2) Physical hazards - vibration (from power tools, chain saws, heavy machinery) - noise (from tractors, machinery, power tools) Long exposure to noise leads to hearing impairment which further lessens the worker's ability to hear shouts of warning or alarm and warning bells and buzzers. - ultraviolet radiation (from prolonged exposure to sunlight) Farmers have the highest rate of skin cancer from too much sun. - heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, ice (factors which are unavoidable, unpredictable, and uncontrollable, unlike climate factors within the buildings where most people work) - dust (fields, hay barns, hog confinement buildings) - trauma (both acute--from injuries--and cumulative--from repetitive work tasks that strain the body) For example, citrus fruit pickers use clippers that take 25-42 foot-pounds of pressure to operate; lemon pickers clip approximately 40,000 times per day. 3) Biological hazards - animals (both wild and domestic) Animals are involved in about 17-19% of agricultural injuries. In horse breeding, the injury rate is phenomenally high: 1 in 10 workers is disabled in the course of a year. - toxic plants, fungi (poison oak, poison ivy, sumac) - allergens (from plants, animals, and chemicals that irritate the lungs and skin) Farmers have the highest rate of skin disorders of all occupational groups. They also have the highest rate of respiratory problems even though they have lower smoking rates. 5) Psychological hazards - Since farming is a financially hazardous occupation, workers tend to push themselves to work more hours than their bodies allow; worried workers who are under severe and prolonged stress are likely to have accidents...and they do. Economic pressures seem to overshadow other concerns: crop prices, machinery costs, interest rates, and weather. In one study, machinery breakdown was rated as a major source of stress. - Many farm tasks require the worker to be isolated for long periods from fellow workers; this is doubly dangerous in that isolation is psychologically stressful and there is no one to help or get help in the event of an accident. - Many farmworkers suffer both physical and cultural isolation; most farmers are older Anglos while most farmworkers are young Hispanics, many of whom do not speak English. - Non-motor vehicle traumatic deaths and suicide are the leading causes of death among farmers. 2. Unsafe Work Attitudes a. Agricultural workers frequently take chances even when they are aware of hazards. Interviews with victims who suffered amputations, skeletal damage, or partial loss of sight show that the most frequent causes of accidents were: 1) Conscious acceptance of risk by the operator 2) Hurrying to meet deadlines 3) Preoccupation (thinking about one thing while doing another) b. A machine can be engineered for safety and have all available safety shields in place; however, safe USE of the machine depends on the operator. A cavalier, indifferent, or careless attitude about safety can lead to loss of life or to lifelong disablement. 3. Unsafe Work Conditions and Practices a. The pace of agricultural work and the pressure to produce quickly (piecework) lead to fatigue and risk-taking. b. Agricultural work sites, tools and equipment, and work practices often do not promote health and safety; available alternate technologies or work methods are not used. 1) In the U.S., many agricultural workers who pick fruit are injured in falls from ladders; others are electrocuted when their tall ladders touch electrical power lines. 2) In Spain, fruit trees are trained low to the ground so pickers don't use ladders. (In the U.S., there are both economic and cultural reasons why this solution is not widely used. There is a surplus of labor and high profits are the primary goal of management. Culturally, there is the American attitude that bigger is better and more is better. (See CLF1455, Marketing, regarding the impact of a country's culture on agricultural practices.) Recently, however, some peach and walnut growers have begun to cultivate close-planted, short-stature trees and have improved their profitability from quicker cash flow (because the trees mature more quickly). c. Personal protective equipment, if available, if often ineffective, uncomfortable, or inappropriate to the task. 1) In spite of the heavy use of toxic chemicals and pesticides, research and development of safe and effective protective equipment is in a very rudimentary stage. 2) Many accidents with pesticides occur during hot weather when workers remove uncomfortable protective clothing and respirators. 3) The National Academy of Sciences estimated in 1984 that data to conduct a complete health hazard assessment exist for only 10% of the pesticides currently on the market. d. Management decisions can lead to unsafe working practices. (For example, providing poorly maintained equipment without safety shields to inexperienced, poorly trained, rushed operators.) e. Labor contractors have no incentive to provide safe working conditions; in fact, with no capital investment to protect and a surplus of agricultural workers wanting jobs, they have a heavy disincentive to expend either time or money on safety. f. The laws and regulations that apply to agricultural work and workers are poorly enforced; furthermore, accountability among employers in the field of agriculture is largely lacking. 3. Inadequate Machinery and Equipment Design a. Old and unsafe farm machinery and equipment cause unnecessary injuries and death. 1) Farm machinery is the single most common cause of agricultural accidents (40-60%) and the leading cause of death; the tractor is the machine most frequently involved in accidents. 2) Machines that have been improved over the years are usually safer to operate than older equipment. 3) Rollover protection structures (ROPS) were developed to make tractors less hazardous. In California, farm tractors manufactured after October 25, 1976, are required to have ROPS. However, in the U.S. as a whole, tractors are not required to have ROPS and 3,000,000 do not. The average age of a tractor in the U.S. is 17 years. 4) Beginning in 1958, all new tractors manufactured in Sweden had to be equipped with ROPS; this dramatically reduced tractor deaths. In 1978, ROPS became mandatory on all tractors in use in Sweden. Tractor fatalities decreased by 90%. 5) Sweden also greatly reduced chainsaw accidents by a systematic program of research, recommendations, engineering, and legal regulation. 4. Inadequate Response to Traumatic Injury of Farmers and Farmworkers a. Agricultural areas often lack emergency treatment facilities and skilled personnel who are knowledgeable about agricultural injuries and illnesses. 1) The average length of time in the field for a tractor rollover victim is 1 hour and 40 minutes. b. Long distances to medical facilities leads to delay in receiving treatment; delay in treatment leads to increased complications and increased likelihood of death before treatment is received. c. Adequate care is further hampered by lack of medical insurance and lack of money to pay for treatment of expensive injuries. 5. Inadequate Surveillance of Traumatic Injuries in the Field of Agriculture a. Inadequate and erratic reporting of farm-related injuries hampers research and prevention programs. 1) There is no legal requirement to report accidents on farms unless there are 11 or more employees; only 4% of farms are therefore required to report accidents and 96% of farms do not have to report accidents. 2) Workers' compensation data for agriculture are not consistent or even widely available due to numerous exclusions, exemptions, and loopholes in state laws. 3) Injury rates in most occupations are systematically reduced by studying the frequency, circumstances, and possible preventive steps that could reduce those injuries. The lack of accurate and comprehensive injury statistics in agriculture contributes to the repetition of preventable injuries and deaths. b. Lack of inspection of agricultural workplaces, lack of risk factor identification in agricultural work procedures, lack of timely field investigations of injury sites, and lack of research studies about ways to reduce agricultural workplace injuries contribute to the continuing high rate of work injuries and illnesses in agriculture. 1) Businesses, employers, employees, and physicians all have disincentives for reporting and studying workplace hazards in the field of agriculture. 2) One safety specialist noted, "This is extremely sensitive, extremely threatening research from the standpoint of the accusing fingers that can be pointed . . . there are forces in the farm community which would prefer that the magnitude of the problem not be brought to light." 3) Workers in the most hazardous occupation in the U.S. have no access to comprehensive occupational safety and health services. 6. Inadequate Regulation and Enforcement of Laws Protecting Farmers and Farmworkers a. Although there are laws to protect the health and safety of farmers and farmworkers, agriculture has not received the same amount of attention that other industries have. 1) Death and injury in the fields of mining and construction have been reduced, but the safety record in agriculture has not improved for 30 years. 2) Most farmworkers are unaware of their rights and unaware of safety codes and violations; those who are aware often fear losing their jobs if they report injuries or accidents. 3) In California, there is an increasing reliance on labor contractors who have no long-term stake in reducing accident rates. 7. Demographic Factors in Farm-Related Injuries and Fatalities a. Growing numbers of part-time farmers (many of whom hold down jobs in town in order to hold onto their farms) tend to be particularly accident prone. Many make do with old, poorly-maintained equipment. Additionally, they are often tired and pressed for time when they do their farm chores. b. Family members (including children) who engage in farmwork are exempt from laws designed to protect people who work on farms. Tractor upsets are the leading cause of farm fatalities. 86% of the victims of tractor accidents are family members (with 10% hired help and 4% visitors). About one quarter of all tractor accident victims are 14 and under or 65 and over (3% age 1-4, 16% age 5-14, 5% 65 and over). According to a study conducted in Michigan and Ohio, tractor operators under 15 and over 65 have 7 to 10 times more accidents per hour of machine use than operators in the 25-44 age group. (Specifically, tractor operators aged 10-14 have 43 accidents per million hours of use while tractor operators over 65 have 29.7 accidents per million hours of use.) Most cases of pesticide swallowing involve small children who drink leftovers from bottles used by adults to mix, store, or apply pesticides. Occupations other than farmwork do not have children and old people either present around or actually doing dangerous work under hazardous conditions. The most dangerous area of the U.S. for farm work is the Midwest where there is a higher proportion of family farms. c. In California, 80% of all farmwork is done by hired farmworkers with only about 20% done by farmers and unpaid family members. (40 years ago, farmers and their families did almost 40% of the farmwork.) d. Farmers have the highest hospitalization rate, the longest hospital stays, and the lowest rate of doctor visits. Why? They have more serious accidents and illnesses but they tend not to seek medical attention for less-than-crisis matters. The average farmworker's annual income is about $3,000 per year; overall, farmworkers pay for most of their health care out of pocket. Many farmers and farmworkers are without health insurance and so both preventive health care and medical care following illnesses and accidents are neglected. Because of the need for money and the lack of health insurance, they often return to work before they are fully recovered. Workers who are thus weakened or distracted by health problems (for example, suffering nausea, respiratory difficulties, cramps, headache,or blurred vision from exposure to pesticides) are less alert and react more slowly in dangerous situations than people who are rested and healthy. e. A typical California farmworker is a young, single, male born in Mexico (87%) who has less than 6 years of schooling, little money for medical care, lives in poor housing conditions, and works long hours at heavy labor in conditions that are often physically uncomfortable and/or dangerous. Such a worker who is in poor health, tired, who has had little or no training in safe work procedures, who frequently cannot read operators' manuals or even labels (both because of limited schooling and because most written material in the U.S. is in English) is likely to have an accident from any one or the combination of all of the above reasons. f. In California, the current oversupply of agricultural labor (caused by a massive influx of workers from across the southern border) serves as a disincentive for health and safety reform. 1) One representative of the citrus industry summed up the situation: "If you've got an abundant supply, economic theory is going to suggest that people aren't going to spend additional funds." (See CLF1212 - Supply, Demand, and Price Determination.) Health insurance and worker benefits for citrus workers were reduced in the 1980s. 2) Virtually all farmworkers now possess seemingly authentic permanent resident visas; the citrus spokesperson estimated that 50% of citrus workers are unauthorized, yet documented-- with fraudulent credentials. Conditions in other countries and U.S. immigration policies are both factors that affect farm accident rates. __________________________________________________________ ACTIVITY: 1. Discuss how economic principles influence decisions about safety. Consider such issues as why farmers continue to use obsolete, worn out, and damaged machinery and equipment; why they frequently work such long hours that they are fatigued and functioning with impaired judgment; why they often neglect their physical well-being; why so many children and old people are killed and injured on farms. 2. Why do people in the field of agriculture frequently oppose safety laws and regulations that are designed to protect them? 3. Discuss possible reasons why businesses, employers, employees, and physicians have disincentives for reporting and studying agricultural workplace hazards. 4. "Injuries are a multifactorial process. It is not just the hand in the corn picker but rather a complex interrelationship between the person, the agent of injury, the circumstances, and the total environment." Comment. __________________________________________________________ 12/14/91 CH/ch #%&C