Detailed Classification of Agricultural Injuries Mined from Maine PCR Records (2008–2022) Reveals Significant Differences in Injury Source, Event, and Nature by Age Group and Sex

Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting comprise the most hazardous industry in the U.S., and production agriculture accounts for the majority of fatalities in the industry. Using Penn State's farm and agricultural injury database, data were coded according to ASABE's Farm and Agricultural Injury Classification (FAIC) code and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) for source and event or exposure types. Occupational and non-occupational incidents were compared based on age groups, religious sect, source of injury, and the injury event or exposure. There were 355 farm and agricultural fatalities in Pennsylvania from 2000 through 2012, and 56% of these fatalities were occupational. The fatality rate was 33.4 per 100,000 farm household residents per year. Youth under 15 years old, seniors age 65 and older, Anabaptist youth, and young females were at high risk of fatal farm injury. Vehicles and transportation incidents were the most common injury source and event/exposure type, respectively. This research illustrates how state-level or national-level data can be collected, coded, and analyzed based on the FAIC and OIICS classification systems to better understand fatal injury causes and connections among important variables. This process can also help to target intervention programs and efforts.

Purpose: Agricultural workers are seven times more likely to die on the job than non-agricultural workers. These numbers are likely underestimates of fatal incidents. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) captures fatalities in production agriculture as part of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), but there are significant caveats based on the special circumstances of agriculture as compared to other industries. BLS reports of agricultural workplace injuries are important to surveillance. However, it should be made clear in publicly issued reports what is included in the case definition for agriculture. CFOI covers all occupational agriculture fatalities (to the best of CFOI ability), but excludes child and non-worker bystanders and public roadway collision victims who were not working, even if a working farm machine was directly involved. Methods: We identified cases from AgInjuryNews.org that did not meet the criteria for CFOI but are related to agriculture. As part of our ongoing study, these cases will be further reviewed by BLS staff for inclusion or exclusion from CFOI. For this presentation, cases were divided into specific themes for discussion. Findings: Three overall themes were identified: 1)Who is working and does it matter? 2) Where does the workplace end? 3) Does it have to be farm work? In theme 1, we highlight two cases involving children who were injured while not directly engaged in farm work. For theme 2, an agritourism and a public roadway incident were discussed. Lastly, theme 3 describes all-terrain vehicle cases where the riders were performing work that is not directly related to production agriculture or were impacted externally by production agriculture. Translation: What do we lose by excluding non-occupational victims of public roadway, youth, and other non-working farm injuries? What is the purpose of agricultural injury surveillance? If injury prevention is a primary goal, we should continue to analyze data related to agricultural injury, regardless of victims’ occupational status. The Farm and Agricultural Injury Classification (FAIC) System is one effective way to distinguish between production agriculture (occupational) and bystanders, etc. Results from this study exemplify the gaps in current agricultural injury surveillance, uncover a more complete picture of agricultural injury burden, and help move the conversation toward organizational and federal policy discussions.

Aviation operations in Alaska often occur in remote locations and during inclement weather. Limited infrastructure and staff in some locations often requires aviation workers to perform tasks outside of their specific job descriptions. Researchers identified workers’ compensation claims as a valuable data source to characterise nonfatal injuries among Alaskan aviation workers. Keyword searches of injury claim narrative fields and industry codes were used to identify potentially aviation-related workers’ compensation claims during 2014–2015. These claims were manually reviewed to verify whether aviation related and manually coded according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics’ Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System. There were 875 aviation-related injury claims accepted during 2014–2015. Ramp/baggage/cargo agents incurred the most injuries (35%), followed by mechanics/maintenance workers (15%). Among all workers, Overexertion and Bodily Reaction (40%) was most often cited as the injury event, followed by Contact with Objects and Equipment (28%), and Falls, Slips, Trips (22%). Sprains, strains, tears were the most frequent nature of injury (55%). Cargo/freight/luggage was the most frequent source of injury (24%). The 3 most frequently identified injury event types were responsible for over 90% of all injuries, which indicates that preventive interventions should be directed towards tasks rather than occupational groups.

ABSTRACTBackground: The hazardous nature of the agricultural environment, reflected in the numerous injuries and deaths to children who live, work and play on farms, coupled with the lack of a comprehensive national surveillance system in the United States, highlights the need for making the best use of publicly available youth agricultural injury data.Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe a 3-year collection of youth agricultural injuries using the publicly available injury and fatality data from AgInjuryNews.org and present recommendations for future injury prevention strategies.Methods: Data were obtained from AgInjuryNews.org, a web-based collection of U.S. news reports of agricultural injuries. We analyzed cases from 2015 to 2017 for youth aged 0–17. We classified injuries as occupational and non-occupational related, based on the Farm and Agricultural Injury Classification (FAIC) code. Each case was also coded for source and event using the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS).Results: Of the 348 injury reports reviewed, 51% were fatal, and about one-third of the victims were 6 years old or younger. Most injuries were non-occupational, and the most frequent injury sources were vehicles (includes tractors and all-terrain vehicles) and machinery. Youth operators, extra riders, roadway operations, and unsupervised youth playing near or in a worksite were four key contributing factors associated with vehicle and machinery related injuries.Conclusions: This study reaffirms that youth agricultural-related injuries and fatalities are still a persistent problem in the United States. The hypothesis generating AgInjuryNews system can provide more current data than traditional surveillance datasets as a tool for understanding the sources of youth agricultural injuries, monitoring injury trends, and informing policy efforts and prevention strategies. Future studies should continue to explore and evaluate the comprehensiveness of this system’s data and the impact of its dissemination, as well as similar rural health informatics solutions for integration into sustainable interventions that can be customized and delivered domestically and abroad.

A comparison of fatal occupational injury event characteristics from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and the Vital Statistics Mortality System

IntroductionFatal and non-fatal youth (ages 0–17) injuries in U.S. agriculture continue to be a significant public health concern. Despite sustained work and attention from federally supported research programming, we continue to observe an unacceptably high number of life-altering and life-ending traumatic injuries to youth in agricultural environments. Likewise, there is still a gap in stringent systematic agricultural injury and/or illness surveillance at the federal level. This paper will provide an updated review of child agricultural injuries from U.S. news media reports, expanding upon this author team's initial 2018 report.MethodsData collection from 2016 to 2021 occurred as part of the AgInjuryNews initiative, and data were coded according to the Farm and Agricultural Injury Classification (FAIC) system and the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS). The AgInjuryNews system primarily contains news media reports. Categorical variables were analyzed and compared using a chi-square test. In addition, the Jonckheere-Terpstra test for trend was used to test the yearly change in the number of youth injuries.ResultsWe observed a general decrease in agricultural injuries compared to the original 2015–2017 dataset. Younger children (<5 years-old) and males were more often injured and more fatally injured than older children and females, respectively. Males and older victims were more likely to suffer an occupational-related injury compared to females and younger victims, respectively. Vehicles remained a major source of injuries, with tractors comprising 28%, and ATVs/UTVs comprising 26% of all injuries. Roadway incidents involving tractors and UTVs were less often fatal compared to non-roadway incidents, while ATVs were more fatal on roadways.DiscussionThis updated review shows childhood agricultural injuries and fatalities continue to be a major public health concern within the US. It is unclear if the trend downward in injuries is due to reporting, data capture methods, or a true decrease in injuries. These data continue to be of interest to stakeholders in academia, public health, government, and private industry—user groups who regularly and consistently seek this type of information, often from multiple data sources, including as registered users on AgInjuryNews.org. These data identify emerging issues within the industry and further inform national and international planning committees' work.

Traditionally, safety-related research on firefighting has focused on fires and fireground smoke as the primary source of non-fatal firefighter injury. However, recent research has found that overexertion and musculoskeletal disorders may be the primary source of firefighter injury. This study aimed to provide an update on injury occurrence among career firefighters. Injury data were collected over a two-year period from two large metropolitan fire departments in the U.S. Injury data were categorized based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System. Cross-tabulations and Chi-square tests were used to determine the primary causes of injury, as well as the injury region. Between the two fire departments, there were 914 firefighters included in the analysis. The median age was 40.7 years old with those aged 40–49 as the largest age group for injury cases (38.3%). The most frequently reported cause of injury was ‘overexertion and bodily reaction’ (n = 494; 54.1%). The most reported injury region was in ‘multiple body parts’ (n = 331; 36.3%). To prevent subsequent musculoskeletal disorders that may arise due to overexertion, initiatives that promote enhanced fitness and ergonomics based on an analysis of the physical demands of firefighting are suggested.

Ensuring data quality and maximizing efficiency in coding agricultural and forestry injuries: Lessons to improve occupational injury surveillance

Abstract. A comprehensive survey of injuries in Swedish agriculture was completed in 2013. The aim was to update the statistics on injuries and to compare them with data for 2004. The results were intended to provide a basis for evaluating the effect of Swedish initiatives to reduce occupational injuries in agriculture. In 2013, there were about 63,000 active farms in Sweden, and questionnaires with 21 questions were sent out to a sample of 6000 of these farms. The most important question was whether any injuries had occurred during 2013. Farms that reported injuries were contacted by telephone with additional questions about the injuries. A total of 3375 farms (56%) responded to the questionnaire. After population-level extrapolation, there were approximately 4400 injuries in Swedish agriculture during 2013 (66% in farming, 18% in mixed farming-forestry, and 14% in other related business activities). According to official statistics, there were only about 344 registered occupational injuries, which means that only 7% of the injuries reported in the questionnaire responses were listed in official statistics. In all, at least one injury occurred on about 7% of all enterprises with farming or combined farming-forestry. About 70% of the affected farms had animals, and 17% of all dairy farms had one or more injuries during 2013. According to this study, the overall number of injuries on farms had fallen by about 12% in 2013 compared with the corresponding study in 2004. Taking into account the reduced labor demand in agriculture and the decline in the number of farms since 2004, the rate of injury has not been reduced. To reduce occupational injuries in agriculture, in recent years the industry and government have been working intensively on work environment advice and training for farmers. Our study showed that farmers who received work environment advice and training introduced more measures to prevent injuries than those without any advisory input. It is alarming that despite all efforts to reduce injuries in agriculture, the level is still very high compared with other industries. Safety campaigns and more permanent safety initiatives in agriculture are needed to raise awareness of occupational risk factors and encourage safe behaviors. Keywords: Agriculture, Extension, Farming, Injury prevention, Injury statistics, Occupational injuries.

Agriculture ranks among industries with the highest rates of occupational injury and fatality. Administrative medical data sets have long been thought to have potential for occupational injury surveillance. This research explores the feasibility of establishing an agricultural injury surveillance system in New York State that combines data from existing electronic sources. Prehospital Care Report (PCR) data containing the nature of the accident, type of injury, time and date, and patient disposition were received. Researchers also obtained both hospital inpatient and emergency department (ED) records for 2007 through 2009 from the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). For SPARCS data, a computer algorithm identified all potential cases of agricultural injury using International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 codes. An attempt was then made to match PCR and SPARCS data using accident date, gender, age, and admitting hospital. Of the PCR records that were matched to SPARCS, 46.8% were found on subsequent inspection to not actually relate to the same incident. Total PCR counts for 2007 and 2008 showed considerable fluctuation, at 2,512,828 and 2,948,841, respectively. A total of 1275, 1336, and 1393 farm injuries were identified in the SPARCS records for 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. This study demonstrates that accurate matching of PCR and SPARCS records requires the use of unique personal identifiers. Further, annual fluctuations in PCR counts preclude their current use in a surveillance system. An electronic data set consisting of SPARCS data could be used for surveillance, but would benefit from the addition of PCR data as these become more consistent.

Estimate the annual US incidence and cost of fatal and nonfatal youth injury in agricultural settings. We used 2001-2006 Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey data to estimate the incidence of nonfatal injury and 2001-2006 Multiple Cause of Death data to estimate the incidence of fatal injury. To estimate the costs for injuries suffered by youth working/living in agricultural settings, we multiplied the number of injuries times published unit costs by body part, nature of injury, and age group. An average of 26 655 agricultural injury incidents occurred annually to youth (ages 0-19) in the United States during the period 2001-2006 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 24 263-29 046). These injuries cost society an estimated $1.423 billion per year in 2005 dollars (95% CI: $1.333 billion-$1.513 billion). Fatalities alone cost an estimated $420 million per year. Work related injuries annually cost $347 million or 24.4% of the total cost (95% CI: 20.3%-28.5%). Most agricultural youth injuries were not work related. We found that, similarly to adult agricultural injuries, youth agricultural injuries tend to be more severe and more costly than nonagricultural injuries. Only 1.4% of injured youth in the United States were hospitalized in 2000, but 14% of youth injured in agriculture were hospitalized in 2001-2006. To address this serious problem, prevention should focus on better controlling both child access to agricultural recreational activities and child assignment to agricultural work tasks that exceed developmental norms.

SUMMARY The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program and the Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, which are conducted by states in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, can provide some useful prevalence and case characteristic data for states that do not have other comprehensive agricultural injury and illness surveillance programs. In Texas, these programs have been the primary source of surveillance data, despite certain limitations inherent in the programs. CFOI findings for Texas in 1994 indicate a rate of 13 fatal work injuries per 100,000 agricultural workers in Texas, more than twice the rate for all workers in the state. Vehicles and machinery combined accounted for over half of all fatal work injuries in agriculture in the state between 1991 and 1994. Results from the Annual Survey indicate a nonfatal incidence rate of 307 events involving days away from work per 10,000 agricultural workers. Overexertion, falls, and workers struck by objects led all other nonfatal events in the industry in 1993.

Objectives: To investigate the incidence, nature and determinants of non-fatal occupational injuries in British agriculture. Methods: As part of a postal survey, data on lifetime histories of work in agriculture...

Animal-related injuries are common in rural areas. Agricultural workers can suffer severe injuries involving farm machinery or falls. The spectrum of injuries related to rural activities is poorly defined and characterizing these injuries will improve injury prevention efforts. Records for injured patients admitted between 2010 and 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with a mechanism of injury involving a large animal or with the injury site listed as "farm" were included. Patients with agricultural injuries (n = 85) were older with more multisystem injuries than patients injured by animals (n = 132) but the Injury Severity Score was equivalent. There was no difference in intensive care unit length of stay, ventilator days, or mortality. There was no difference in frequency of solid organ injury, pelvic fractures, rib fractures, or hemo- or pneumothorax between groups. Animal injuries had more frequent traumatic brain injuries (22.4% vs 10.5%, P = 0.03), whereas agricultural injuries had more vertebral fractures (20.5% vs 9.2%). Of toxicology screens performed, 25 per cent (22/88) were positive. No significant differences were found between occupational versus recreational animal injuries. Agricultural and animal-related injuries have different characteristics but Injury Severity Score and mortality were similar. Severe injuries from both mechanisms are common in rural communities and injury prevention activities are needed in both settings.

Compliance with the requirements of labour protection, labour safety of workers in agriculture ensures the preservation of life and health of the rural population, reducing the risk of serious injury. At work, including in agriculture, industrial injuries threaten the health and even the life of the rural population, up to premature death. The purpose is to consider the causes of industrial injuries of workers employed in agriculture, analyse statistical data on accidents in agriculture, and make recommendations for its prevention. The analysis of statistical data on industrial injuries and accidents in agriculture was carried out, a comparative analysis of domestic and foreign experience with a literature review was carried out. Based on the Content analysis, hazardous production factors leading to accidents and injuries in agriculture were widely considered. Thanks to the study, the causes of industrial injuries in agriculture and the factors leading to accidents were identified, recommendations on measures for their prevention were given. Based on foreign experience, studies of industrial injuries in agriculture are considered. Analysing the indicators of occupational injuries for the corresponding period of time, we conclude about their dynamics in economic activities, in various sectors of the economy and in the state as a whole.