Effectiveness of participatory training for the promotion of work-related health and safety among Korean farmers

This study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of participatory training for promoting farmer’s health and reducing agricultural work-related injuries. Candidates for this study included 595 farmers in 8 rural villages of South Korea. The one-day course participatory training was administered to 217 (36.5%) farmers and included an action-checklist, a good example presentation, and group discussion. The follow-up visit to participants’ houses and farms was performed after 1 to 3 months. A direct interview survey was administered pre- and post-trainings. The total number of proposed action plans for the improvement of working condition was 620. It was observed that 61.5% of action plans (72.2% of short term and 41.3% of long term plans) were completely implemented. In regards to health and safety indices, the proportion of current smokers was reduced from 29.8% to 25.3% in the group that underwent training. The pesticide intoxication was reduced from 16.1% to 4.8% in participants that underwent training. However, the agricultural injury rate was unchanged in both groups. This study reports significant beneficial effects of participatory training in the agriculture sector in Korea.