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Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience

A significant portion of on-farm deaths and injuries in Australia occur among young people working on the farm. Since most Australian farms are still family owned and operated, young people are an integral part of everyday operations and the farm is a place where these young people live, work and pl...

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Autores principales: Brumby, Susan, Hatherell, Tracey, Fitzgerald, Cecilia, Cotton, Jacqueline, Semmens, Morna, Cunningham, Sally, Gibbs, Jenna L., Sullivan, David, Sheridan, Carolyn E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9679140/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36424961
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1031003
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author Brumby, Susan
Hatherell, Tracey
Fitzgerald, Cecilia
Cotton, Jacqueline
Semmens, Morna
Cunningham, Sally
Gibbs, Jenna L.
Sullivan, David
Sheridan, Carolyn E.
author_facet Brumby, Susan
Hatherell, Tracey
Fitzgerald, Cecilia
Cotton, Jacqueline
Semmens, Morna
Cunningham, Sally
Gibbs, Jenna L.
Sullivan, David
Sheridan, Carolyn E.
author_sort Brumby, Susan
collection PubMed
description A significant portion of on-farm deaths and injuries in Australia occur among young people working on the farm. Since most Australian farms are still family owned and operated, young people are an integral part of everyday operations and the farm is a place where these young people live, work and play. This paper describes how the international Gear Up for Ag Health and Safety™ program, originally developed in North America, was further developed for a younger Australian audience (ages 12–19) enrolled in agricultural programs at secondary or vocational schools. In addition, we share insight on demographics, self-reported farm safety behaviours, and the most common farm tasks being performed by program participants utilising a pre-survey originally developed for program customisation. Of particular importance were the most common farming tasks reported by this group. The most common tasks performed on Australian farms included a large variety of vehicle use (farm vehicles, motorbikes, and quadbikes) and handling livestock. Females reported operating vehicles and other farm equipment at the same rates as males. Males were more likely to be working with large heavy machinery and driving trucks, while females were more likely to be working with livestock and using horses for stockwork. Both males and females reported low use of PPE and poor safety habits. In future Australian programs, it will be important to address the conspicuous use of motor vehicles, quadbikes, motor bikes and machinery at early ages, and to target gender-specific tasks to reduce risks on the farm.
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spelling pubmed-96791402022-11-23 Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience Brumby, Susan Hatherell, Tracey Fitzgerald, Cecilia Cotton, Jacqueline Semmens, Morna Cunningham, Sally Gibbs, Jenna L. Sullivan, David Sheridan, Carolyn E. Front Public Health Public Health A significant portion of on-farm deaths and injuries in Australia occur among young people working on the farm. Since most Australian farms are still family owned and operated, young people are an integral part of everyday operations and the farm is a place where these young people live, work and play. This paper describes how the international Gear Up for Ag Health and Safety™ program, originally developed in North America, was further developed for a younger Australian audience (ages 12–19) enrolled in agricultural programs at secondary or vocational schools. In addition, we share insight on demographics, self-reported farm safety behaviours, and the most common farm tasks being performed by program participants utilising a pre-survey originally developed for program customisation. Of particular importance were the most common farming tasks reported by this group. The most common tasks performed on Australian farms included a large variety of vehicle use (farm vehicles, motorbikes, and quadbikes) and handling livestock. Females reported operating vehicles and other farm equipment at the same rates as males. Males were more likely to be working with large heavy machinery and driving trucks, while females were more likely to be working with livestock and using horses for stockwork. Both males and females reported low use of PPE and poor safety habits. In future Australian programs, it will be important to address the conspicuous use of motor vehicles, quadbikes, motor bikes and machinery at early ages, and to target gender-specific tasks to reduce risks on the farm. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-11-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9679140/ /pubmed/36424961 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1031003 Text en Copyright © 2022 Brumby, Hatherell, Fitzgerald, Cotton, Semmens, Cunningham, Gibbs, Sullivan and Sheridan. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Brumby, Susan
Hatherell, Tracey
Fitzgerald, Cecilia
Cotton, Jacqueline
Semmens, Morna
Cunningham, Sally
Gibbs, Jenna L.
Sullivan, David
Sheridan, Carolyn E.
Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience
title Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience
title_full Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience
title_fullStr Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience
title_full_unstemmed Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience
title_short Some differences but all at risk: Improving farm safety for young people—An Australian experience
title_sort some differences but all at risk: improving farm safety for young people—an australian experience
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9679140/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36424961
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1031003
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