Citation

Low JM, Griffith GR, Alston CL. Aust. J. Rural Health 1996; 4(3): 179-189.

Affiliation

NSW Agriculture, Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Armidale, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Association for Australian Rural Nurses; National Rural Health Alliance, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9437142

Abstract

Information on farm work-related injuries was sought to assist in the design of effective farm safety prevention programs. A telephone survey was conducted using a stratified random sample of 919 sheep/wool, beef cattle and dryland broadacre cropping farms from three shires in the wheat/sheep belt of New South Wales. The adjusted response rate was 84%. There were 425 reported injuries over an 18-month period. One in five farms reported at least one injury per year, while one in 12 farms reported at least one serious injury per year. Animal-related injuries were the largest major category for agent of injury, while the largest category for nature of injury was sprain and strain, recording almost one-quarter of all injuries. The farm workshop or shed was the most common location of injury, with more than 20% of all reported injuries occurring there. Personal risk factors thought to contribute to these farm work-related injuries were examined. The statistically significant personal risk factors for injury occurrence were age (and/or experience), previous injury status, body mass index, hours of sleep, a variable measuring daytime drowsiness and a variable measuring perceived stress.

Language: en