Assessing Senior Farmers’ Perceptions of Tractor and Machinery-related Hazards

Agricultural injury data over the last 25 years have consistently shown a highproportion of cases involving senior farmers and agricultural workers. Farm tractors arethe most commonly reported causal agent for fatalities in this population.Understanding of the specific causal factors associated with this apparent risk, however,remains very limited, and to date, the safety and health professions response has notbeen commensurate with the need. In order to develop effective safety programsdesigned to impact a specific population or audience, it is necessary to conductformative research to gain a thorough understanding of the beliefs, perceptions,attitudes, and influences of the people within that population. The research discussed inthis article represents the formative, or pre-production, component of current efforts todevelop safety programs to reduce tractor and machinery-related injuries among senior(age 60 and older) farm and ranch operators and agricultural workers. This research utilized a national survey (n = 295) to examine senior farmersperceptions of tractor and machinery-related risks, as well as safety-related beliefs,major safety influences, and safety information preferences. Senior farmers ratings oftractor-related risks reflected perceptions that such hazards were only moderately riskyin relation to other farm hazards, though 83% of this group agreed tractor-relatedinjuries are generally severe. Findings indicated that senior farmers may undervalue thebenefit of ROPS. While 88% agreed ROPS are effective in preventing injuries, only42% of the senior farmers reported having ROPS on their primary tractors.Furthermore, only 26% believed that the protective benefits provided by ROPSoutweighed the costs and inconvenience of installing and using them. This articleconcludes with a brief discussion of the implications of risk perceptions and personalbeliefs for the development of injury intervention programs for the senior farmpopulation.