Farm Safety II

A special issue of Safety (ISSN 2313-576X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2024) | Viewed by 6073

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
OHS, Teagasc-Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Carlow, Ireland
Interests: OHS culture development; extension approaches to gain OHS adoption; total health and sustainability models in agriculture; COVID-19-related OSH studies
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to contribute a manuscript to a Special Issue of Safety with a particular focus on farm health and safety. This Special Issue comes in the later stages and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic period, a period in which many restrictions and modifications in the farming sector arose.

The pandemic brought a strong focus on the total health model, which indicates a reciprocal relationship between health, including mental health and farm injury prevention. In particular, mental health issues in the agriculture sector have arisen, while scholarship associated with this issue seeking solutions to emerging problems has increased in output.

The role of farm health and safety as a component in sustainability models for agriculture has grown in importance. However, it is my belief that a stronger focus needs to be given to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3, ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’. Such a focus needs to interconnect with all the other UN goals, particularly socio-economic and climate action ones.

A vast population worldwide lives and works on farms, where a huge and diverse range of technologies are used. Farm workers may be employed workers or self-employed. This range of work environments makes implementing health and safety measures a diverse challenge.

At a farm level, this challenge involves enhancing both the technical aspects of farming and human behavioral factors related to occupational health and safety. However, improving farm safety has been described as a ‘wicked’ problem because it resists solution due to its multifactorial and complex nature.

The scenario presented highlights the need for scholarship to seek ways to enhance occupational health and safety on a continuing basis across a range of agricultural workplaces.

Social ecological models applied to agricultural occupational health and safety emphasize multiple levels of influence (such as individual, interpersonal, organizational, community and public policy) and the concept that behaviours both shape and are shaped by the social environment. Thus, huge protential exists at many levels to seek solutions to the occupational health and safety challenge in agriculture.

This Special Issue offers researchers and practitioners the opportunity to present the latest advancements in the development of interventions, or novel approaches for the evaluation or the enhancement of agricultural health safety.

Topics of interest include the following:

  • Approaches to survelliance related to agricultural occupational health and safety (OHS)
  • Legislative and policy approaches to improve agricultural OHS
  • Interventions aimed at improving agricultural OHS including:
    • Farm infrastructure design
    • Design and interface of vehicles
    • Livestock facilities design and behaviours
    • Enhancement of behaviour towards health and safety
  • Application of total health and sustainability models to agricultural OHS
  • COVID-19-related studies related to agriculture

Dr. John McNamara
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 608 KiB  
Article
Which Technologies Make Australian Farm Machinery Safer? A Decision Support Tool for Agricultural Safety Effectiveness
by Amity Latham, Zoran Najdovski, Rebecca Bartel and Jacqueline Cotton
Safety 2024, 10(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety10010023 - 26 Feb 2024
Viewed by 2497
Abstract
This project combined systems engineers, farm safety researchers, work health and safety inspectorate and policymakers with the aim of designing a way in which to reduce fatal farm injury caused by run-overs and roll-overs by tractors and side-by-side vehicles. The team made comparisons [...] Read more.
This project combined systems engineers, farm safety researchers, work health and safety inspectorate and policymakers with the aim of designing a way in which to reduce fatal farm injury caused by run-overs and roll-overs by tractors and side-by-side vehicles. The team made comparisons between farm machinery and powered mobile plant that is used in the industrial manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, mining, and construction sectors. Current and emerging safety technologies and engineering solutions were collated. Safety standards, legislated engineering controls, retrofit designs, and known ways in which farmers’ workaround safety features were considered. These elements were used as criteria to propose a way to resolve which safety technologies or engineering controls should be recommended for aftermarket retrofitting or incorporated at the original equipment manufacturer design stage. The concept of measuring safety effectiveness to prevent fatal farm injury emerged. This developed into a score sheet and a corresponding matrix to highlight engineering strength and industry acceptance. The project resulted in the conceptual design of the agricultural safety effectiveness score (ASES). The next phase is a multi-stakeholder validation process and a protocol for the scoring system. It requires a hypothesis to test the theory that when safety technologies and engineering solutions are mature in other industries or if they are associated with agricultural productivity gains, their adoption into the agricultural sector is more likely, which in turn will reduce the incidence of tractor and side-by-side run-overs and roll-overs on farms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farm Safety II)
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11 pages, 4647 KiB  
Article
Case Study: Modeling a Grain Bin for Safe Entry Retrofit
by Michael Dyer, Serap Gorucu, Randall Bock, Roderick Thomas, Jude Liu and Linda Fetzer
Safety 2023, 9(2), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9020028 - 29 Apr 2023
Viewed by 2498
Abstract
All new grain bins produced after 2018 are recommended to have anchor points capable of handling a 2000 lb loading for attachment of bin entry lifeline systems. This study aims to assess the feasibility of a safe entry anchor point retrofit by using [...] Read more.
All new grain bins produced after 2018 are recommended to have anchor points capable of handling a 2000 lb loading for attachment of bin entry lifeline systems. This study aims to assess the feasibility of a safe entry anchor point retrofit by using finite element analysis (FEA). We used a grain bin owned by Penn State for 3D FEA modeling in SolidWorks. To validate the model results from the FEA model, first strain and then deflection measurements were conducted on the grain. Strain gauges were applied to the grain bin in five locations and strain values were obtained after applying static loads. The strain gauge measurements from the experimental study were compared to the strain output from the FEA simulation. The error seen was far greater than was expected. The most pertinent error source was strain gauge installation error and equipment failure. Then, the vertical roof deflection of the bin was measured using a precision phase-comparison laser while applying incremental static loads to the retrofitted rescue anchor points. The FEA model results were compared to the experimentally measured deflection results. A 3D FEA model of a grain bin was created. A high amount of error was observed in deflections between the measured and FEA modeling. The errors have resulted from the assumptions made during the model creation. However, the SolidWorks Simulation model still may be used to estimate loading scenarios in a safe and non-destructive way. Based on the research findings, the project team recommends that the suitability of any bin to safely accommodate a lifeline and anchor point system must be verified on a case-by-case basis. Evaluation by a professional structural engineer and consulting with the manufacturer are recommended. This recommendation extends to all-grain bins, including those post-2018. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farm Safety II)
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