The Impact of Age, Level of Education and Length of Working Hours, on Farmer’s Attitude to Farm Safety

Department of Biological & Pharmaceutical Science

Institute of Technology,

Tralee

Agricultural Science Research Project:

The Impact of Age, Level of Education and Length of Working Hours, on Farmer’s

Attitude to Farm Safety

Jason Connell

T00169008

Supervised by: Dr Eilish Broderick

Submitted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for:

B.Sc. (Hons) in Agricultural Science

Year 4

Final year Project report submitted to the Institute of Technology, Tralee, April 2016

I declare that this is my work and that all contributions from other persons have been appropriately identified and acknowledged

Abstract:

It is widely recognised that farming constitutes an occupation that results in high levels of

work related injuries and fatalities. In the last eight years’ fatal work place injuries have been

at an average of 18 deaths a year. It is the number one leading area for workplace injuries.

The next highest sector is construction which its average fatalities are nine fatalities over the

same eight-year period. 2014 seen the largest number of farm deaths (30) recorded in the last

twenty years. Three separate groups were surveyed on issues relating to farm safety from all

different age demographics. The main issue researched were education, age, length of

working hours and attitude towards safety. It was found that age had an effect on the risk of

hazards but it was not due to the lack knowledge but due to other stressors on the farm. Sleep

deprivation is a challenging factor in the increased chances of accidents and with Irish

weather this has become more of an issue. Research shows that there maybe cause for

concern with working hours increasing due to climate change and the reduced widow for crop

growing.

Acknowledgements:

The project “The Impact of Age, Level of Education and Length of Working Hours, on

Farmer’s Attitude to Farm Safety” has enlightened me on how important farm safety is on

every farm.

I give my sincere thanks to The Institute of Technology Tralee and to my project supervisor

Dr Eilish Broderick who has helped me greatly on preparing this project.

I would like to thank all the participants of the survey I conducted. Without their input I

would not have gained the insight into farm safety as I now have.

Lastly I would like to thank my parents for supporting me through four great years of college.

Jason Connell

ContentsList of Figures:........................................................................................................................................2

1.0 Introduction.........................................................................................................................1

1.1 Background:.........................................................................................................................1

2.0 Review of Literature:.............................................................................................................3

2.1 Age Demographic:...................................................................................................................3

2.2 Sleep Deprivation:...................................................................................................................6

2.3 Education:................................................................................................................................9

2.4 Attitude towards Health and Safety:....................................................................................10

2.5 Introduction of Safety Programs:.........................................................................................12

3.0 The Aims and Objectives of the Investigation:..................................................................13

4.0 Materials and Methods:......................................................................................................13

5.0 Results:.................................................................................................................................15

6.0 Discussion:............................................................................................................................20

8.0 References:...........................................................................................................................22

9.0 Appendix......................................................................................................................................25

9.1 Appendix A: Farm safety Questionnaire for Farmers.......................................................25

9.2 Appendix B: Contractors Farm Safety Questionnaire.......................................................31

9.3 Appendix C: Contract worker Farm Safety Questionnaire.................................................36

List of Figures:

Figure 1................................................................................................................................................15Figure 2................................................................................................................................................15Figure 3................................................................................................................................................16Figure 4................................................................................................................................................17Figure 5................................................................................................................................................17Figure 6................................................................................................................................................18

Figure 7................................................................................................................................................18Figure 8................................................................................................................................................18Figure 9................................................................................................................................................19Figure 10..............................................................................................................................................19Figure 11..............................................................................................................................................19

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background:

Agriculture is a vital sector in Irelands economy. It contributes approximately 10% of

Irelands exports and employs 8.6% of total employment. It is also makes up 7.6% of Irelands

economy GVA (Gross Value Added). There are approximately 139,860 family farms in

Ireland with an average size of 32.7 hectares per holding. In a country wide scale Ireland is

6.9 million hectares of which 4.5 million hectares are used as agricultural land. (DAFM,

2015).

It is widely recognised that farming constitutes an occupation that results in high levels of

work related injuries and fatalities. In the last eight years’ fatal work place injuries have been

at an average of 18 deaths a year. It is the number one leading area for workplace injuries.

The next highest sector is construction which its average fatalities are nine fatalities over the

same eight-year period. 2014 seen the largest number of farm deaths (30) recorded in the last

twenty years. (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016)

In a recent study conducted by Teagasc in 2011, farmers were surveyed in relation to attitude

to certain risks in farming. Five different risks Market, Production, Personal, Institutional and

Financial were graded on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being the most important and 5 being least

important). The survey showed some worrying facts. Farmers put risks to markets and

production first before their own personal risk. This would indicate that the farmer is more

money motivated and less concerned about their health. (Kinsella, 2015)

Safety is set to become prominent and more of an issue due the aging demographic of farmers

in Ireland. Safety hazards will rise as the average age of the farmer is rising. According to

CSO figures, as the average age of the farmer was 54 compared to 51 back in 2000. (Central

Statistics Office, 2012) With 51.4% of the farmers over the age of 55 there is a cause for

concern. (DAFM, 2015). Older farmers are more prone to accident with 67 fatal accidents

coming from this age category between 2006 and 2015 (HSA, The Health and Safety

Authority of Ireland, 2016) The highest number of these fatal accidents come from the areas

of using machinery and working with livestock.

1

These statistics were further strengthened by studies conducted by Teagasc from studies,

looking at farm fatalities, they found that greater numbers of fatalities were recorded among

older farmers over the age of 55 years (Meredith, McNamara, & Grant, 2010).

Other literary works carried out in America likewise suggest that it is an ever growing

problem. The number of younger persons entering farming is decreasing, while older farmers

are continuing on farming into their eighties (Hernandez-Peck, 2001)

Unlike the rest of the population farmers tend to remain in farming as longer compared to

people working in other sectors who have to retire at the age of 65. This is not always for

financial purposes but due to the lifestyle. In other situations, were the farmer is passing on

their farm to a family member, the farm does not automatically go to the next generation. It is

often an intergenerational operation in which the younger farmer may get more of a say as to

what happens on the farm, rather than a fast transfer of it over.

The son/ daughter then may use his/ her father as an advisor to the farm or as a reserve labour

role when the work load on the farm becomes too much. This in turn will put the elderly farm

in a high risk status category to have an accident. The older farmer may not no his limitations

which will cause an accident either to him or anyone working around him.

The other high risk category are children and inexperienced people on the farm. On average

there are 2-3 children fatally killed on farmers every year. The main areas in which they areas

in which these fatalities occur are with machinery and tractors (HSA, The Health and Safety

Authority of Ireland, 2016).

There are a few key areas that need to be investigated when looking at farm safety in general.

Areas such as farmers age demographic as mentioned previously but also areas of intensity of

the farmer’s workload throughout the year and how it fluctuates in intensity which may give

rise to illness and sleep deprivation.

An equivalent aspect to investigated would be the effect of education has on the attitude

towards safety. As mention previously in the Teagasc study, farmer’s attitude towards their

own personal safety came third to how the closing or opening may affect their farms.

Production risk also came before their personal safety which is also very worrying as it would

suggest that the farmers surveyed are more profit driven, and that safety practices may not be

taken as seriously as they should be.

2

The use of pesticides is becoming a prominent issue is the usage of pesticides. (Sekhotha,

Monyeki, & Sibuyi, 2016). With the steady increase in crop production comes with it are

harsh chemicals that are applied to the crop to gain better yields free from disease. Over 150

different pesticides are authorised for usage in the E.U.

The crop production in Ireland alone is worth 1.76 billion to the Irish economy. (Central

Statistics Office, 2014) . In the last year cereal production has increased by 8.2% on figures

shown in 2013. There was 2.4 million tonnes of crops produced in 2013 and that increased to

2.6 tonnes in 2014 (Central Statistics Office, 2015). With this increase in crop production

comes with it an increased use of pesticides with it be in the forms of insecticide, herbicides

or fungicides. In Ireland alone 1520 tonnes of active substance (pesticide) was used with a

further 2 tonne applied to field margins.

2.0 Review of Literature:

2.1 Age Demographic:

According to (Feyer, et al., 2001) age attributes to fatal or near fatal injuries not only in

Ireland but throughout the rest of the world. Studies into injuries (fatal or not) such as ones

carried out by (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016) (Loomis,

Richardson, Wolf, Ruyan, & Butts, 1996) (Thelin, 2002) show that it is the older worker that

are at high risk of sustaining a fatal injury. In saying this, the HSA study shows the type of

occupation and the age range of the fatalities whereas the study carried out by (Feyer, et al.,

2001) look at a range of occupations. Their results were clear the older worker is an

additional risk for these fatal injuries. It seems as well from the studies by (Feyer, et al.,

2001) that the chosen occupation is additionally a risk. His results show over three countries

examined that the Agricultural sector was in the top three which included mining and

construction when it came to fatal fatalities. (Salminen, 2004) furthermore, found in his

studies that twenty-nine out of 45 studies on fatal occupational injuries indicated that young

workers had a lower fatality rate than older workers.

This increase in fatalities can be due to a number of factors such as age group the workers fall

into, the capability of sense organs and speed of responses to avoid accidents. Additionally,

3

the older worker’s ability to withstand trauma will have decreased with age. (Villanueva &

Garica, 2010). Older workers have less chance of change and stay within the same role wither

it is unsafe for them to do so or not. It seems that a consensus view on this from a company’s

position is that it would be too late for the older worker to change job as by the time they are

trained they will probably have left the company.

However, when it comes to the occupation of farming it is down to the older farmer to take a

step back from farming and pass the business onto the next generation. In most cases this

does not happen leading to a higher risk of that farmer getting injured. As said previously the

injuries happen due to the farmer thinking he can do tasks that he had always done in the past

but does not take into account what his limitations were back then compared to now. This

seem to be the consensus in many papers when looking at older farmers (Villanueva &

Garica, 2010) (Solomon, 2002).

This was likewise seen in (Hernandez-Peck, 2001) paper. Farmers were farming well past

their legal retirement age compared to other occupations where after you reach pension age

you have to retire. This retirement process is done due to the excessive risk associated with

older employees. This paper found that farmers continued on farming, but as time went on

they began to take a step back and allowed the next generation to take over. This take over

was done in small steps as the older farmer did not realise his limitations physically or accept

his physical limitations. This mind frame maybe leading to an increase in fatal injuries among

this age demographic and their unwillingness to give into their slowing physical activity. It

was again seen that farmer did not see farming as an occupation as such and that the older

farmer was not driven by profits, it was more the enjoyment they got out of farming that has

kept them in this sector long past the retirement age. The studies found that it was not an

unusual sight to see farmers remaining in farming into their seventies. This is not just the case

for the United States of America, where this study was conducted, it is also the case in

Ireland (CSO, 2012).

(Hernandez-Peck, 2001) found that the elderly farmers that did retire, were ones that had

severe physical limitations had retired from the physical work that’s not to say they weren’t

utilised by the next generation for driving tractors or paperwork tasks. Other issues did arise

like vision and hearing impairment were found in this paper to potentially increase a farmer’s

risk for injury while doing this kind of farm work. 1 in 9 farmers aged 55 or older were

involved in a tractor roll. This age group of farmers accounted for half the fatalities in this

4

period in the United States. Which would suggest that the older farmer should not be used as

reserve labour. (Meredith, McNamara, & Grant, 2010) also found that the fatality rate is

increased from 15 to 22 per 100,000 and that older farmers, those over 55 years now account

for the vast majority of all fatal accidents.

In contrast to this (Solomon, 2002) paper did show that the next highest area for fatal injuries

were 16-19 year olds and 25-34 year olds. All be it older farmers may be challenged

physically as the aging process takes place, with this comes greater risk taking on their

behalf, but the physical limitations do not affect the younger age groups as they are in the

prime of their lives. Other factors affect them and the work they do such as the lack of

experience some may have in the job.

The younger workers apply for jobs that do not require experience needed as they are starting

out in their working careers. (Villanueva & Garica, 2010) found that 56% of fatal injuries

occurred in temporary workers and 54% of non-fatal injuries occurred in part time or

temporary workers. It also found that 42% of these workers were only employed in the last

six months or less. Research by (Thelin, 2002) showed similar results. He said that during

periods of intense work, employers will hire temporary or seasonal workers with little

experience. The employers may be limited when it comes to economic and technical

resources which will contribute to the lack of training of the new employees. This would

suggest “a learn as you go approach” which can be very risky in farming due to extensive

work with machinery and the unpredictability of animals. This was especially evident in the

areas of machinery and animals in which most farm fatalities occur wither it be young or old

farmers (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016).

Children are a very vulnerable age group when it comes to farm safety. Young children may

not have the sense to know when something maybe dangerous for them and get bemused and

exhilarated by machinery and tractors and may run towards machinery and moving parts.

75% of all child fatalities on farms in Ireland are cause by machinery and tractors (HSA, The

Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016). Every year unfortunately 2-3 children will lose

their lives on farms. It is perfectly fine for children to show interest in farming but parents

can’t be naive to their safety on the farm and they should be attended at all times when

entering the family farm.

5

2.2 Sleep Deprivation:

Sleep deprivation plays a pivotal role when it comes to accidents in all sectors including

farming. As farming is seasonally based, excessive amounts of work needs to be done in a

short space of time due to weather constraints and lately that is becoming an increasing

problem with climate change shortening the window of opportunity to grow and harvest

crops (e.g. grass, wheat, barley etc.). With seasonal work comes a heavy workload and longer

shifts for both the farmer and the farm workers.

51% of fatal injuries happened in the central part of shift work time between the third and

sixth hours (Villanueva & Garica, 2010). This was also seen to be a problem in construction

work where employees had worked more than eight hours in the day were at a higher risk of

injury due to tiredness, compared to those who work a seven and eight-hour shift (Wagstaff

& Sigstad Lie, 2011). These findings were likewise found in the agriculture sector in (Thelin,

2002) where he looked at periods of intensive work had on the employees and even finding

employees to work these hours. This paper suggested that farmers and farm workers had to

injure long working hours with little rest and recovery periods, could lead to more accidents.

(Pratt, Marvel, Darrow, & Jenkins, 1992) similarly found this to be true when it came to

machinery in combination with long working day and periodically very intensive work

operations contribute to higher risks of injuries or fatalities.

(Villanueva & Garica, 2010) additionally, suggested that the risk of a fatal consequence of

occupational accidents increases with age and with work shift. There is a higher risk for male

workers and also temporary workers as compared to permeant workers. This paper also

identifies that construction, agriculture and fishing are at a higher risk and are seen as a high

risk category when it comes to sleep deprivation. (Folkard & Tucker, 2003) previously

observed that there is an increase in the levels of risk with the increase of working hours

during shift work, this was due to tiredness and a high level of fatigue.

(Takahashi, 2012) likewise suggested that sleep problems are a safety concern and that they are

associated with occupational injuries. Even a disrupted sleep pattern can dependently increase

the risk of mortality especially among working men. This coincided with studies done by

(Rod, et al., 2011). There was a significant association between increased errors and the

amount of rest. This increase mainly happened when the worker got less than six hours’ sleep

6

(Thomas & Ferguson, 2010). Similarly, the amount of errors increased as the level of fatigue

rose.

This finding is very worrying as the period from the start of spring to the end of summer sees

an increase in the farmer’s work load. During the spring he may not be getting an average of

six hours sleep due to watching cows/ sheep giving birth during periods of the night. From

the findings in (Takahashi, 2012) this could be one of the main influences in agriculture being

in the top three sectors for fatalities (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016)

(Loomis, Richardson, Wolf, Ruyan, & Butts, 1996). Furthermore, contract workers work long

hours due to a heightened demand of services during this period. They could be working

double shifts into the night to meet the farmer’s needs. If sleep deprivation is as prevalent as

studies show this would also contribute to fatalities on the farm.

(Van Dongen, Maislin, Mullington, & Dinges, 2003) (Belenky, et al., 2003) found through

experimental evidence that repeated partial sleep deprivation even achieving 5 to 6 hours a

night cause gradual impairment in the neurobehavioral performance each day. It was also

found that skipping sleep has similar influences on the brain and body as drinking alcohol.

These findings would suggest that lack of sleep would have impairments on driver of large

machinery. As machinery already is a leading factor in a number of fatalities (HSA, The

Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016) this area needs to be focused on more when

introducing safety programs.

(Wagstaff & Sigstad Lie, 2011) described workers who are in the transport and hauling sectors as

safety critical activities. Work periods of greater than eight hours carry an increased risk of

accidents that cumulates so that the increased amounts of accidents at the twelve-hour mark is

twice the risk of that at the eight-hour mark. This study went on to say that since we know

that fatigue, sleep loss and circadian desynchronization have detrimental effects on human

performance and decision making the potential effects of working hours on safety should be

self-evident. Other findings in this paper suggested that night work was the most disruptive

shift in terms of sleep problems. A significant higher frequency of work injury was found

among male rotators this was also the case in (Villanueva & Garica, 2010) paper. (Meredith

& Clinton, 2015) established that Irish farmers were at more of a risk during the period of the

tenth to the eighteenth hours when on the farm.

(Wagstaff & Sigstad Lie, 2011) also investigated from the lack of sleep how many of the workers

found themselves nodding off at least once per week and found that 35.5% of rotators

7

actually found themselves nodding off. Once again if this is related back to the agricultural

sector, it is very dangerous for contract workers who are doing long shifts because them

might fall asleep at the wheel in spite of themselves due to overtiredness. Out of all the

people (Wagstaff & Sigstad Lie, 2011) investigated 95% of them reported a near miss at one

stage or another. Working overtime also increased the relative risk of making at least one

error or near error. They also found that 86% of the respondents reported fatigue related

errors.

(Wagstaff & Sigstad Lie, 2011) also found that motor vehicle crash incidents and near misses

where very common when commuting home after an extended work shift. It was 95% more

likely to happen compared to people who hadn’t an extended shift. When researching truck

drivers (Wagstaff & Sigstad Lie, 2011) found that 58% of critical incidents were reported in

the tenth and eleventh hours of driving. Once again if this was related to the contract worker

which is very similar in working conditions, if workers are doing an extended shift it will be

in these hour frames they will be at an increased risk of an accident happening. (Åkerstedt,

1995) made the point in his paper that there is ample evidence of impaired safety to work-

hour induced fatigue.

In contrast to this (Smith, Kilby, Jorgensen, & Douglas, 2007) and (Philip, et al., 2006)

research found that if a break was take to rest that fatigue levels were reduced and that

concentration levels had increased. They suggested that a 30-minute opportunity to nap in the

middle of the night shift (2 a.m. to 3 a.m.) improved PVT performance and subjective

sleepiness compared with people who had no nap (Smith, Kilby, Jorgensen, & Douglas,

2007). Similarly, night shift air traffic controllers given a 40-minute nap opportunity

displayed better PVT performance and objective measure of alertness compared to those who

had no nap (Signal, Gander, Anderson, & Brash, 2009). (Philip, et al., 2006) Likewise found

that a break would help in reducing the levels of fatigue when driving a long distance or for

excessive periods of time.

8

2.3 Education:

With the increasing number of farm fatalities in recent years’ education on safety in farming

is a must in all agricultural courses (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016).

Farmers not just students should likewise engage in safety courses. From research conducted

for this study, Agricultural courses at all levels across Ireland were examined to see if there

was a designated module on farm safety. Out of the twenty-four leading courses in the

country only six had a designated health and safety module (Qualifax, 2016). Although it is

part of each module descriptors to establish the hazards that are associated in each module

some aspect of farm safety may never be touched on at all. There seems to be a consensus

among farming groups that they already know of all the safety hazards on the farm. This

consensus has to change in order to reduce the accidents on farmers. (DeRoo & Rautianen,

2000) stated that agriculture has historically relied on voluntary safety education programs

and injury prevention activities. (Morgaine, Langley, & McGee, 2003) found that it was hard

to get farmers to attended these courses, when they did receive uptake in these courses it was

mainly younger farmers that attended and not the main age demographic that is at a higher

risk.

(DeRoo & Rautianen, 2000) established that the effectiveness of these farm safety educational

programmes had little to no effect due to the inadequate designs of the studies that was

conducted on them. They also suggested that in recent years many safety specialists have

argued that passive protections afforded by environmental modifications and legislation are

more effective than educational programs in reducing injuries. Furthermore, they found that

farmers are already aware of the hazards involved in farming but lack the time and inclination

to change their behaviour and are reluctant to attend educational programs.

(Stoskopf & Venn, 1985) and (Lewis, et al., 1998) established that they found no statistically

significant difference in the incidence of injuries among farmers who had ever participated in

any type of safety training programme compared to those who did not attend the training

programs. (Morgaine K. , Langley, McGee, & Gray, 2014) came to the conclusion after the

programme they implemented back in 2003 (Morgaine, Langley, & McGee, 2003) a well-

conducted safety training tailored to farmers was still not enough to change safety practice.

Future interventions may be more likely to achieve progress if they are comprehensive,

include environmental and enforcement features, and target more than one participant per

farm.

9

This lack of education or unwillingness to change or learn new ways of doing tasks safer

leads to the rise in accidents and fatalities as seen in (Villanueva & Garica, 2010) 56% of

fatal injuries occurred in temporary employed workers and 54% for non-fatal accidents. 42%

of these employees were hired in the last six months and probably had gotten little to no

training on the job. (Arcury & Quandt, 2011) found that farmers were not educating their

staff or providing staff with PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) equipment when spreading

pesticides. Biomarker data document showed evidence of pesticide exposure but it was small.

However long term exposure to small amounts of pesticides has a negative effect on health

(Arcury & Quandt, 2011).

2.4 Attitude towards Health and Safety:

As seen in the previous section farmer’s attitudes toward health and safety is very indifferent.

(Kinsella, 2015) established that the farmer’s interruption is skewed in terms of farm safety.

They found that the farmer thinks that market risk and production risk have more of a

precedent that one’s own safety. Farmers only report fatal accidents on their farm as it is

required by law and an investigation is conducted to see what happened. Otherwise non-fatal

injuries are rarely reported due to the fact they could incur penalties (HSA, The Health and

Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016). (Forde, 2016) similarly found when it comes to under-

reporting in the agriculture sector, on average there are roughly 100 non-fatal agriculture

related injuries reported to the HSA each year (any work-related injury that results in three or

more days out of work is reportable). However, the Teagasc national farm survey carried out

in 2011 would indicate that there could be up to 3,000 of these injuries occurring each year.

In the HSA figures non-fatal injuries in the agricultural sector are low (Russell, Maître, &

Kingston, 2014) and they do not feature in the top three for accidents. On the other hand, for

fatal accidents the agricultural sector is in the top three (Feyer, et al., 2001). The consensus of

under reporting of accidents is seen throughout other papers reviewed also (Thelin, 2002)

(Loomis, Richardson, Wolf, Ruyan, & Butts, 1996).

(Forde, 2016) reported figures that only 56% of farmers are compliant slurry handling

facilities. In the time frame between 2000-2010, 30% of child fatal accidents on farms were

caused by drowning in slurry or water. In the same period 8% of deaths to elderly farmers

were caused by drowning. (HSA, Health and Safety Authority, 2011). The next area farmers

10

were not complaint in was the safety of the facilities for calves and calving facilities with

only 58% being complaint. 64% of tractors were compliant in having handbrake in

serviceable condition. 82% of farmers had a designated playing area for children which was

the highest level of compliance seen to date in this area. 82% of farms were compliant with

having adequate provision for elderly farmers which seen an in this area by 11% on 2014

figures. This would suggest that the attitude towards the most vulnerable groups are changing

and farmers are beginning to put safety measures in place for these groups.

When it came to being compliant with the action list of hazards in the Code of Practice/Safety

Statement, 78% of farms were compliant. This was an increase from the 59% that were

compliant in 2014. This would suggest that to change farmer’s attitude to farm safety would

be continuous monitoring and audits for each farmer for safety to check for compliance.

(Forde, 2016) further reinforced the previous statement as the HSA stated that it would be

reducing the number of inspections in 2015 to 2,300 it actually increased the number to

2,837. They found that compliance then increased over this year period.

(Stave, Torner, & Eklof, 2007) established the only way for safety to work is to restructure the

attitudes and perceptions of farmers. In doing this will achieve safer working conditions. This

paper also established that previous methods for safety in the workplace has mainly been

locating hazards, giving information and providing equipment or methods to try and reduce

or eliminate them.

(Forde, 2016) established that dairy farms are having more accidents than other types of farms.

There are factors such as long working hours, working with animals, machinery, slurry, etc.

that contribute to making dairy farming more hazardous than other types. In 2007 57% of

farm fatal accidents occurred on dairy farms. At that time dairy farms only accounted for

17% of farms. Time maybe a contributing factor but the farmer’s attitude to achieving his

workload, may not think about safety at all.

(Solomon, 2002) likewise stated in his paper that there is some evidence from other countries

that farm type may influence the risk of accidents. From research conducted by (Solomon,

2002) found that when comparing pig farming and dairy that there was a doubling in the

amount of injuries to dairy farmers than pigs. Also he found that poultry farming carries a

reduced risk of injury compared to arable production, dairy, beef and pig farming.

11

2.5 Introduction of Safety Programs:

(DeRoo & Rautianen, 2000) established that agriculture has historically relied on voluntary

safety education programs and injury prevention. (Morgaine, Langley, & McGee, 2003)

likewise found this to be the case in New Zealand and that the uptake in these voluntary

programmes was poor. (DeRoo & Rautianen, 2000) suggested that the effectiveness of

interventions of farm safety programs were weak due to the inadequate study designs. The

paper also suggested that many safety specialists have argued that passive protections

afforded by environmental modifications and legalisation are more effective than educational

programmes. (Solomon, 2002) correspondingly found that the introduction of roll over

protection structures for tractors has been important development in recent decades along

with other engineering controls like guards for power take off shafts, guard rails to prevent

falls and better handling facilities for animals have helped in the safety of farms.

Some agricultural specialist contend that farmers are already aware of the hazards involved in

farming but they lack the time and inclination to change their behaviour and are also reluctant

to attend educational programs (DeRoo & Rautianen, 2000). (Stoskopf & Venn, 1985) and

(Lewis, et al., 1998) found that there was no statistical difference in the incidence of injuries

among farmers who had attended these safety courses and training program compared to

those that had not attended them at all.

(Murphy, Kiernan, & Chapman, 1996) challenged whether farmers actually put to use

educational information on eliminating, reducing or controlling physical hazards. (Morgaine

K. , Langley, McGee, & Gray, 2014) established after the program they introduced in 2003

(Morgaine, Langley, & McGee, 2003) found that a well-conducted safety training program

tailored to farmers was still not enough to change safety practice. Future interventions may be

more likely to achieve progress if they are comprehensive, include environmental and

enforcement features, and target more than one participant per farm.

The uptake in safety programs is very poor as (Morgaine, Langley, & McGee, 2003) found at

first. They incentivised farmers to join the programme by giving vouchers for travel or a quad

helmet to try get numbers. In the 2014 study (Morgaine K. , Langley, McGee, & Gray, 2014)

it was that it was not the incentives that boosted the numbers attending the course as the

farmers did not go for the reward but for what the program stood for. The consensus from

talking to farmers was that they may not have come if they had a busy workload. Therefore,

12

the question to be answered is would they attend if the course was voluntary (Murphy,

Kiernan, & Chapman, 1996) found that the attendance would be reduced if it was voluntary.

3.0 The Aims and Objectives of the Investigation:

The aim of this survey, using the collated work of Irelands Health and Safety Authority, the

Department of Agriculture Food and Marine, Teagasc, Journals and Articles are to analyse:

Are farmers aware of safety hazards on the farm

Attitude of farmers towards farm safety

The impact of age demographic of farmers against high risk status.

The level of education and its impact on the awareness of farmers to farm safety

If contract workers are a higher accident risk due to work/sleep ratio and experience

of the worker

If contractors are aware of hazards on the farm (children, powerlines etc.)

The key areas for my hypothesis that will be looked at in my thesis will be:

The relationship between age and increased risk of fatalities

If a knowledge gap exists in farm safety due to different levels of education

Longer working hours for contract workers leads to them being accident prone

4.0 Materials and Methods:

The type of method to be used is a closed format questionnaire (appendix 1,2,3). It is a

qualitative type of research; which is intended to understand the reasons why farm safety is

becoming a “laissez faire” action on farms. It is not a fully closed questionnaire as there is

one open ended question that allows the participant explain the extent of their near miss or

accident. This type of a question will allow me to see if there is a trend in accidents or regular

occurrence of certain types of accident without having to lead the participant into certain

types of accident (e.g. trips and falls)

13

The reasoning for choosing mostly closed questions type questionnaire is due to ease of

preliminary analysis. They will also be easier to statically analyse due to the fact that the

answer set is already known.

In this questionnaire there are four different type of questions used. The main type of

question used was importance style of question. This type of question allows the participant

show if they are aware of certain aspects of safety while farming but it also shows insight on

what farmer’s perception of farm safety is through a grading system of importance. The

questions are phrased in such way as tasks carried out before use of machinery and during

that should be conducted for safety reasons but on most farms they will be ignored until

something happens or goes wrong.

The second type of question is a rating scale question. It is similar to the importance question

but it askes the farmer’s opinion rather than asking the amount of times or how regular he

carries out a task. This type of opinion question will allow insight into how the farmer

attitude is towards farm safety.

The third type of question is a Dichotomous style question. It is a simple yes/ no type of

question in which I tend to gain knowledge of simplistic actions the farmer may take to

improve safety around the farm such as informing contractors of overhead powerlines. This

will also be used to see if the farmer is being compliant with safety standards such as having

covers on PTO shafts. If he answers no on that type of question it would suggest that he

knows that there are not any covers on the PTO shafts but also that there is a high chance of

injury.

The fourth type of question is farmer profiling. Asking about age and education will allow to

see if there is a correlation between education levels and safety knowledge but also will allow

to see if aging farmers are at more of a risk for fatal accidents.

There are three key demographics that I will be conducting the questionnaires on and they are

farmers, farm contract workers and contract workers. I hope to get at least forty

questionnaires per the three demographic groups. The larger the subject group that I have the

more accurate the findings will be for distinguishing my hypothesis and proving wither my

hypothesis was correct or if in fact the null was correct. To analyse the obtained results I will

be using a series of graphs and tables. These will be tabulated using Microsoft Excel and

various different formula from within the programme.

14

5.0 Results:

16-20 20-25 26-30 31-40 41-50 60+02468

10121416

Age compaired to Education Type

Junior Cert Leaving Cert Green Cert Fetac Degree

Age

educ

ation

in n

umbe

rs

Figure 1

Depicts each separate age group that was surveyed and the level of education each age

demographic had. (Murphy, Kiernan, & Chapman, 1996) stated that farmers may not utilise

educational information to eliminate, reduce or control physical hazard. This graph would

suggest the same findings

accident on farm accident reported0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Accidents on farm v.s. reporting

Yes No

Figure 2

15

Depicts the number of accidents that happen on the owner’s farm versus the number of times

these accidents were reported. (Solomon, 2002) reported a gross under reporting of non-fatal

accidents partially in agriculture. This bar chart would further consolidate his findings.

children young farmers experienced farmers inexperienced farmers 65+0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Consensus of Risks on Farm

Farmers Contractors Contract workers

Figure 3

Figure 3 shows the different study groups opinion on who is at most risk on farms. It would

suggest that the overall consensus would be that children are at most risk on the farm

followed by elderly farmers and inexperienced farmers respectively. This is also the findings

in (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016) were they report these age

demographics as high risk.

16

Time Cost Knoweldge Workload Training0

5

10

15

20

25

Views on areas that contribute ro risk

Farmers Contractors Contract workers

Figure 4

Figure 4 shows the overall consensus of what attributes risks of accidents on farms. This

graph would suggest that time management and workload area the most common causes of

near accidents on farmer’s farms. (Solomon, 2002) also suggested this to be a problem as the

hours increased with the workload leading to greater risks of injury.

Never Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Sleep v.s Fatigue

Fatigue Sleep

Figure 5

Figure 5 depicts the hours of sleep (if they get 6 hours or not) versus the level of fatigue one

may have. It shows how tired one may get with reduced amounts of sleep. When the levels

of sleep rises fatigue will fall. (Takahashi, 2012) likewise found this to be true.

17

Contractor Sleep 6 hours FatigueNever 0 3Rarely 3 6Sometimes 12 21Often 16 9Very Often 9 1Correlation 0.501634

Figure 6

Figure 6 shows a moderate correlation between reduced amounts of sleep and the rise in

fatigue levels effects in contractors. This rise in fatigue levels may lead to higher propensity

of risk. (Takahashi, 2012) likewise suggested this in their findings.

Contract workers Sleep 6 hours FatigueNever 8 6Rarely 7 4Sometimes 10 8Often 12 16Very Often 3 6Correlation 0.722999

Figure 7

Figure 7 depicts a strong positive correlation between reduced amounts of sleep and the rise

of fatigue levels in contract workers. This rise in fatigue levels lead to a higher propensity of

risk. (Wagstaff & Sigstad Lie, 2011) established fatigue levels lead to a higher risk of

accident.

Contract workers Sleep 6 hours ConcentrationNever 8 10Rarely 7 13Sometimes 10 8often 12 5Very often 3 4Correlation 0.060192927

Figure 8

Figure 8 shows the moderate correlation between different levels of sleep and the effects on

concentration levels. This finding shows that a lack of sleep may affect concentration levels

as also found in (Van Dongen, Maislin, Mullington, & Dinges, 2003)

18

Contractors Sleep 6 hours ConcentrationNever 0 5Rarely 3 19Sometimes 12 14Often 16 2Very Often 9 0Correlation -0.29626

Figure 9

Figure 9: depicts a weak negative linear relationship. This would suggest that the contractor

had more hours of rest so therefore concentration levels would be ok. (Philip, et al., 2006)

also suggest this as increased rest periods increased concentration levels of drivers.

Contract worker Fatigue ConcentrationNever 6 10Rarely 4 13Sometimes 8 8often 16 5Very often 6 4Correlation -0.580258853

Figure 10

Figure 10: depicts a moderate negative linear relationship. This would suggest that fatigue

and concentration levels are related. Fatigue affects concentration levels as found in (Philip,

et al., 2006).

Contractors Fatigue ConcentrationNever 3 5Rarely 6 19Sometimes 21 14Often 9 2Very Often 1 0Correlation 0.4711061

Figure 11

Figure 11: depicts a moderate positive relationship between fatigue and concentration levels.

This would suggest that fatigue and concentration levels are related. Fatigue affects

concentration levels as found in (Philip, et al., 2006).

19

6.0 Discussion:

Farming is a hazardous occupation (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016). There needs to be a consensus by farmers to use their education for safety around the farms in a “think before you act type” of mentality. As can be seen in figure 1 of this papers results all groups that were surveyed have education it putting knowledge of safety into action is the problem. (Kinsella, 2015) brought this knowledge to light in her article on a survey that was conducted by Teagasc. Farmers had put market risk and production risks affecting them more that their own personal risk on the farm. This is very worrying to think that this would be the case with so many fatalities each year (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016). From figure 1 you can see that it was indeed the older end of farmers that had the most education but in saying that they are one of the high risk categories not only here but in other parts of the world (Hernandez-Peck, 2001), (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016), (Meredith, McNamara, & Grant, 2010). This would furthermore support (Stave, Torner, & Eklof, 2007), (Murphy, Kiernan, & Chapman, 1996) statement on are farmers actually putting the education they learn into eliminating or trying to reduce the hazards on the farm.

(Morgaine, Langley, & McGee, 2003) study of how their hands on educational safety programme would also suggest that farmers are not taking back what they learn to the farm with them. They either forget it or get back into old habits. Figure 4 plays a massive role in these programs and other safety programs failing. From looking at the chart we can see that it’s both time and workload that seems to be the issue and causing a higher amount of accidents on the farm. (Morgaine, Langley, & McGee, 2003) stated that to get the farmers to go to the safety workshops they had to plan them around slower periods of the farming calendar where the farmer would have more time and the workload is reduced. Once they pressure of the workload comes back on they will not take the time to think about what they have learnt due to the short period of time they have to produce silage crops etc. (Kidd, Scharf, & Veazie, 1996) identified work stress as one of the constraints that effect work safety. From the findings in figure 4 too this can be said also. (DeRoo & Rautianen, 2000) stated in her paper that farmers are already aware of the hazards involved in farming but they lack the time and inclination to change their behaviour as said previously they are reluctant to attend educational programs.

Farming in Ireland has always been a hazardous occupation bother with fatalities and non-fatalities (HSA, Health and Safety Authority, 2011). It is not known to the extend the amount of accidents that happen each year as massive under report takes place in the agricultural sector. This is quite evident in Figure 2 as the there is a large number of un reported accidents. This seemed to be the consensus in (Stave, Torner, & Eklof, 2007), (Solomon, 2002), (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016) as they reported vast amounts of un reported accidents. This was mainly due to the person/ farmer being self-employed and also due to legal constraints as they may be investigated on safety issues and penalised.

Sleep problems aren’t recognised as a safety concern in the agricultural sector. Studies in other sectors suggest that sleep problems are a safety concern and are associated with many occupational injuries (Takahashi, 2012). From Figures 5-11 would suggest that there is a

20

possible risk especially contractors and contract workers. These workers are working double shifts due to the demand of their services during the short window frame of summer so as the farmer has enough feed to feed the animals he has. With this increase in working hours comes fatigue and loss of concentration which will lead to a higher chance of an accident occurring. (Takahashi, 2012) found that increased errors were significantly associated with less than 6 hours sleep in the previous 24 hours. This leaves contract worker at higher risks during good weather as they will have reduced sleep for that time. (Belenky, et al., 2003) and (Van Dongen, Maislin, Mullington, & Dinges, 2003) through experimental evidence indicates that repeated partial sleep deprivation, even achieving 5 to 6 hours of sleep at night causes a gradual impairment in neurobehavioral performance each day. Physiologically skipping sleep has similar influences on the brain and body as drinking alcohol.

It was clear to see through correlations that the contract workers were showing signs of sleep deprivation. When comparing the contractor and the worker there was differences as the contractor mainly got 6 hours sleep and did not feel as fatigued as the worker working long shifts. (Wagstaff & Sigstad Lie, 2011) similarly found that safety critical activities such as transport working more than 8 hours carry an increased risk of accidents that cumulates so that the increase of accidents at the 12-hour shift mark is twice the risk of that at 8. This relatively increases the risk of falling asleep while driving.

7.0 Conclusion and Future Work:

The findings indicate that the farmer is already aware of most of the hazards but will not find time to reduce the risk due to him putting price and product first (Kinsella, 2015). These findings also indicate that there is a need to look into the working hours of contract workers this may lead to a reduction in the numbers of people being killed by machinery each year (HSA, The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016).

Further work needs to take place on the sleep deprivation and how much of a factor it is in farming as there is ample evidence of impaired safety to work hour induced fatigue (Åkerstedt, 1995). It is not only the contractors or their workers that should be investigated but also the farmers as they do not have a quitting time on the farm. More research needs to take place in the area of delivering the safety programs. New ways need to be thought up and trailed on the farmers to see what they want from such a programme. Maybe the introduction of a certificate in farm safety along with a cash incentive may get them out of old habits and change their perception and attitude towards safety.

21

8.0 References:

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Arcury, T. A., & Quandt, S. A. (2011, November-Decemeber). Living and Working Safely: Challenges for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers. N C Med J., 72(6), 466-470. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3529146/

Belenky, G., Wesensten, N., Thorne, D., Thomas, M., Sing, H., Redmond, D., . . . Balkin, T. (2003, March). Patterns of performance degradation and restoration during sleep restriction and subsequent recovery: a sleep dose-response study. Journal of sleep research, 12(1), 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12603781

Central Statistics Office. (2012, October 4). Central Statistics Office. Retrieved from Central Statistics Office: http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/agriculture/2010/aglabinput_2010.pdf

Central Statistics Office. (2015, June 15). Central Statistics Office. Retrieved from Central Statistics Office: http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/aypc/areayieldandproductionofcrops2014

CSO. (2012, October 4). Central Statistics Office . Retrieved from Central Statistics Office : http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/agriculture/2010/aglabinput_2010.pdf

DAFM. (2015, November). The Department of Agriculture , Food and the Marine. Retrieved from The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/publications/2015/NOV2015FULLFACTSHEET080116.pdf

DeRoo, L. A., & Rautianen, R. H. (2000, May). A systematic review of farm safety interventions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 18(4), 51-62. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00141-0

Feyer, A., Williamson, A., Stout, N., Driscoll, T., Usher, H., & Langley, J. (2001). Comparison of work related fatal injuries in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand: method and overall findings. Injury Prevention, 7(1), 22-28. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1730691/

Folkard, S., & Tucker, P. (2003, February 1). Shift work, safety and productivity. Occupational Medicine, 53(2), 95-101. doi:10.1093/occmed/kqg047

Forde, A. (2016, March 9). AgriLand. Retrieved from AgriLand Website: http://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/farmers-need-to-improve-their-slurry-handling-facilities-hsa-figures-show/

Hernandez-Peck, M. C. (2001). Older Farmers: Factors Affecting Their Health and Safety. Eastern Washington University, School of Social Work and Human Services. Washington: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Retrieved from http://nasdonline.org/1816/d001760/older-farmers-factors-affecting-their-health-and-safety.html

22

HSA. (2011). Health and Safety Authority. Retrieved from Health and Safety Authority: http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Your_Industry/Agriculture_Forestry/Other_Hazards/Slurry_Water_Safety/

HSA. (2016, April 4). The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland. Retrieved from The Health and Safety Authority: http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Statistics/Non-Fatal_Injury_and_Illness/Non_Fatal_Injury.html

Kinsella, A. (2015, July Tuesday). Act now to make your farm safety fit. Farmers can reduce safety hazards on their farms by learning risk reduction lessons from other workplaces, p. 16. Retrieved from http://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/farm-financial-fitness/docs/July%2021%202015%20Farm%20Safety.pdf

Lewis, M., Sprince, N., Burmeister, L., Whitten, P., Torner, J., & Zwerling, C. (1998, May). Work-related injuries among Iowa farm operators: an analysis of the Iowa Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project. Americain Journal of Industrial Medicine, 35(5), 510-517. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9557175

Loomis, D. P., Richardson, D. B., Wolf, S. H., Ruyan, C. W., & Butts, J. D. (1996, October 17). Fatal Occupational Injuries in a Southern State. American Journal of Epidemiology, 145(12), 1089-1099. Retrieved from http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/145/12/1089.short

Meredith, D., & Clinton, M. (2015). Farm Fatilities in ireland (1993-2014). Teagasc. Dublin 15: Rural Economy Development Programme, Teagasc. Retrieved from http://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2014/3291/Farm-Fatalities-1993-2014-Farm-Safery-Workshop-Ashtown.pdf

Meredith, D., McNamara, J., & Grant, J. (2010). Occupational Fatalities amongst farm workers in Ireland, 1992-2008. Carlow: Teagasc, Oak Park. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11019/702

Morgaine, K., Langley, J. D., & McGee, R. O. (2003). The FarmSafe Programme in New Zeland: Process Evaluation of year one (2003). Safety Science, 44(4), 359-371. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2005.10.007

Morgaine, K., Langley, J., McGee, R., & Gray, A. (2014). Impact evaluation of a farm safety awareness workshop in New Zealand. Scandinavian Journal of Work Enviorment & Health, 40(6), 649-653. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3446

Murphy, D. J., Kiernan, N. E., & Chapman, L. J. (1996, April). An occupational health and safety intervention research agenda for production agriculture: Does safety education work. Americian Journal of Industrial Medicine, 29(4), 392-396. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199604)29:4<392::AID-AJIM23>3.0.CO;2-W

Office, Central Statistics. (2014, Feburary 21). Central Statistics Office. Retrieved from Central Statistics Office: http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/oiiap/outputinputandincomeinagriculture-preliminaryestimate2013/

Philip, P., Taillard, J., Moore, N., Delord, S., Valtat, C., Sagaspe, P., & Bioulac, B. (2006, June 6). The effects of coffee and napping on nighttime highway driving: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 144(11), 785-791. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16754920

23

Pratt, D. S., Marvel, L. H., Darrow, D., & Jenkins, P. (1992, January). The dangers of dairy farming: the injury experience of 600 workers followed for two years. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 21(5), 637-650. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/21545544_The_dangers_of_dairy_farming_The_experience_of_600_workers_followed_for_two_years

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Sekhotha, M. M., Monyeki, K. D., & Sibuyi, M. E. (2016, February 18). Exposure to Agrochemicals and Cardiovascular Disease: A Review. International Journal of Enviormental Research and Public Health, 13(2), 229. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772249/

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Smith, S. S., Kilby, S., Jorgensen, G., & Douglas, J. A. (2007, April). Napping and nightshift work: Effects of a short nap on psychomotor vigilance and subjective sleepiness in health workers. Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 5(2), 117-125. doi:10.1111/j.1479-8425.2007.00261.x

Solomon, C. (2002, September 11). Accidental injuries in agriculture in the UK. Occupational Medicine , 52(8), 461-466. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12488516

Stave, C., Torner, M., & Eklof, M. (2007, May). An intervention method for occupational safety in farming- Evaluation of the effect and process. Applied Ergonomics, 38(3), 357-368. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16765313

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Thomas, M. J., & Ferguson, S. A. (2010, july 7). Prior Sleep, Prior Wake, and Crew Performance During Normal Flight Operations. Avation, Space and Enviormental Medicine, 81(7), 665-670. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20597246

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9.0 Appendix

9.1 Appendix A: Farm safety Questionnaire for Farmers

Age Group:

☐ 16-20 ☐ 20-25 ☐ 26-30

☐ 31-40 ☐ 41-50 ☐ 60+

Gender:

☐ Female ☐ Male

Education level:

☐ Green Cert ☐ FETAC Level 5/6 ☐ Leaving Cert

☐ Junior Cert ☐Ordinary/ Honors degree

☐

Other

Enterprise type:

25

☐ Tillage ☐ Beef ☐ Dairy

☐ Sheep ☐ Equine

☐

Other

Your tractor is serviced:

☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes

☐ Often ☐ Very Often

Would you check machinery for faults before use:



Are PTO shafts fitted with proper covers:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Is there a U guard in place to cover the PTO stub:

☐ Yes ☐ No

During slurry agitation are open access points guarded:



Would you say hydraulic pipes are checked for wear and tear:



When clearing blockages in machinery do you check the PTO is off and the brake is on:



Would you check and see if the crush, pen and head gate were working

26

before use:



Is there a stock bull running with the herd:

☐ Yes ☐ No

When herding, is there a vehicle used to herd the bull:



Are farm surfaces maintained and kept clean:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Would you check outside sockets for defects:



Would you make contractors aware of overhead powerlines on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Would you make contractors aware of children on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Are children aware of dangers on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Would your child be on the farm on a regular basis:



Do you allow them to travel on the tractor with you:

☐ Yes ☐ No

27

Is there a passenger seat in your tractor:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Do you allow your child to operate a tractor (below 16):



Are chemicals kept in a locked store:



Are all containers labeled:

☐ Yes ☐ No

How are out of date products disposed of:

☐ Burnt ☐ Recycled ☐ General waste

☐Used as containers for something else ☐

Other ___________________

Would you check equipment using chemicals for leaks:



Do you use protective clothing when using chemicals:



Has there ever been accidents or near misses on your farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

If so can you describe the incident:

28

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Since then has the problem that caused the accident or near miss been fixed:☐ Yes ☐ No

Were the accidents reported:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Do you hire in farm help:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Have they experience on a farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Are they aware of safety risks on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Are you covered by public liability insurance on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

What is the cost of your insurance:

☐ €500-1000 ☐ €1100-1600 ☐ €1700-2000

☐ €2100-2600 ☐ €2700+

On a scale of 1-5 (1 = very important and 5 = not important at all) how important is farm safety:

☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3

☐ 4 ☐ 5

Do you think farm safety is overlooked on farms:

☐ Yes ☐ No

29

If so is it due to:

☐ Time management ☐ Cost of implementing ☐ Lack of knowledge

☐ intense workload already ☐ Lack of training

Who do you think is most at risk on the farm:

☐ Children ☐ Young farmers ☐ Experienced farmers

☐ Farmers over 65 ☐ Inexperienced farmers

Do you contract out farm work:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Have you attended any safety training courses run by the HSA, Teagasc or the Department of Agriculture:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Are you aware that there is a free health and safety online training course on the health and safety authority website:

☐ Yes ☐ No

9.2 Appendix B: Contractors Farm Safety Questionnaire

Age Group:

☐ 16-20 ☐ 20-25 ☐ 26-30

☐ 31-40 ☐ 41-50 ☐ 60+

Gender:

☐ Female ☐ Male

30

Education level:☐ Green Cert ☐ FETAC Level 5/6 ☐ Leaving Cert

☐ Junior Cert ☐Ordinary/ Honours degree

☐

Other

Enterprise type:

☐ Slurry ☐ Tillage ☐ Silage round bales

☐ Pit silage ☐Chemical fertilizer spaying

☐

Other

Your tractors are serviced:






Are PTO shafts fitted with proper covers:

☐ Yes ☐ No


31

☐ Yes ☐ No

When clearing blockages in machinery do you check the PTO is off and the brake is on:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Is hitching equipment free from defects:☐ Yes ☐ No

When spreading slurry, would you leave agitation points open:



During slurry agitation are open access points guarded:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes





Going onto a new farm are you made aware of overhead power lines or any other hazards:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Are you made aware there maybe children on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Age of youngest worker:

☐ 14-16 ☐ 17-19 ☐ 20-22

☐ 22-24 ☐ 25-27 ☐ 28+

32

During your busiest time how many hours would each employee work:

☐ 16-20 ☐ 20-25 ☐ 26-30

☐ 31-40 ☐ 41-45 ☐ 45+

Are there night shifts involved:☐ Yes ☐ No

Are there double shifts involved:☐ Yes ☐ No

Do all employees hold a valid license:☐ Yes ☐ No

Do you check the driving history of a new employee:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Do you provide training to new drivers:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Would you get a minimum of 6 hours sleep before starting work again:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Would you find yourself fatigued after a long day’s work:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Would you lose concentration during an extended period of work:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes

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When working at night do you find yourself more aware to hazards:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Do you ever find yourself falling asleep while working at night:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Would you check equipment using chemicals for leaks:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


How are out of date products or used products disposed of:☐ Burnt ☐ Recycled ☐ General waste

☐Used as containers for something else ☐

Other ___________________

Do you use protective clothing when using chemicals:☐ Never ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes


Has there ever been accidents or near misses on your farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

If so can you describe the incident:

__________________________________________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________________________________________

Since then has the problem that caused the accident or near miss been fixed:☐ Yes ☐ No

Were the accidents reported:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Are you covered by public liability insurance:

☐ Yes ☐ No

What is the cost of your insurance:☐ €500-1000 ☐ €1100-1600 ☐ €1700-2000

☐ €2100-2600 ☐ €2700+

In your opinion is farm safety important:

☐ Yes ☐ No


☐ Yes ☐ No

If so is it due to:☐ Time management ☐ Cost of implementing ☐ Lack of knowledge


Who do you think is most at risk on the farm:☐ Children ☐ Young farmers ☐ Experienced farmers

☐ Farmers over 65 ☐Inexperienced farmers

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Have you attended any safety training courses run by the HSA, Teagasc or the Department of Agriculture:☐ Yes ☐ No


☐ Yes ☐ No

9.3 Appendix C: Contract worker Farm Safety Questionnaire

Age Group:

☐ 16-20 ☐ 20-25 ☐ 26-30

☐ 31-40 ☐ 41-50 ☐ 60+

Gender:

☐ Female ☐ Male

Education level:

☐ Green Cert ☐ FETAC Level 5/6 ☐ Leaving Cert

☐ Junior Cert ☐ Ordinary/ Honors degree

☐ Other

What type of license have you:

☐ tractor ☐ Provisional ☐ Full

Did the contractor provide you with training before working:

☐ Very low ☐ Low ☐ Medium

☐ High ☐ Very High

Hours of work a week:

☐ 0-10 ☐ 11-20 ☐ 21-30

☐ 31-40 ☐ 41+

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Would you get a minimum of 6 hours sleep before starting work again:



Would you find yourself fatigued after a long day’s work:



Would you lose concentration during an extended period of work:



When working at night do you find yourself more aware to hazards:



Do you ever find yourself falling asleep while working at night:






Do you check PTO shafts are fitted with proper covers:

☐ Yes ☐ No


☐ Yes ☐ No

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Is hitching equipment free from defects:

☐ Yes ☐ No

When spreading slurry, would you leave agitation points open:






During slurry agitation are open access points guarded:



When entering a farm does the farmer make you aware of overhead powerlines on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Would the farmer make you aware of children on the farm:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Would you check equipment using chemicals for leaks:



When clearing blockages in machinery do you check the PTO is off and the brake is on:



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How are out of date products disposed of:

☐ Burnt ☐ Recycled ☐ General waste

☐Used as containers for something else ☐ Other ___________________

Are chemicals kept in a locked store:



Do you put chemicals back in the store and lock it:



Do you use protective clothing when using chemicals:



Are all containers labeled:

☐ Yes ☐ No

Are you made aware of safety risks on the farms you go to:

☐ Yes ☐ No

On a scale of 1-5 (1 = very important and 5 = not important at all) how important is farm safety:

☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3

☐ 4 ☐ 5


☐ Yes ☐ No

If so is it due to:

☐ Time management ☐ Cost of implementing ☐ Lack of knowledge

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Who do you think is most at risk on the farm:

☐ Children ☐ Young farmers ☐ Experienced farmers

☐ Farmers over 65 ☐ Inexperienced farmers

Have you attended any safety training courses run by the HSA, Teagasc or the Department of Agriculture:

☐ Yes ☐ No


☐ Yes ☐ No

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Documents

The Impact of Age, Level of Education and Length of Working Hours, on Farmer’s Attitude to Farm Safety