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The authors ask you:
Fatalities from agricultural tractors are by far the leading cause of death and serious injury in agriculture in the United States. This is an unacceptable burden since technical solutions exist. The goal of this project was to complete and synthesize the knowledge base, test the initial design of a community-based social marketing plan, and build the capacity to mount a national public health campaign to reduce fatalities and injuries related to agricultural tractors in the U.S. This project involved unprecedented collaboration of all nine of the regional NIOSH Agricultural Centers, the National Agricultural Children's Center, and collaborators at NIOSH and USDA. The project components were divided into evidence-building aspects and stakeholder-building aspects. Project components that were funded included: 1. Lead Center; 2. Costs of Tractor Operator Injuries from Overturns and Highway Collisions; 3. Impact of Changes in ROPS Standards, Regulations and Technology on Future Tractor ROPS Availability; 4. Documentation of Acceptability and Procedures for Financial Incentives for Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) Retrofitting; 5. Designing Community-based Social Marketing Programs for Tractor Safety; 6. Communications and Partners. A Leadership Council, including representatives from all of the collaborating NIOSH Agricultural Centers, coordinated and oversaw completion and synthesis of the projects. An important result was the creation of a productive, multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary team to address this problem. The next step is to sustain this national campaign through regional demonstration projects, focused on key at-risk and high-risk populations. The success of this project is dependant on the availability of ROPS and a distribution system including manufactures and dealers; a ROPS incentive program; identification of funding sources: creation of compelling messages to enlist funders and policy makers; and tailoring of social marketing tools for regional needs. The emerging issue of importation of "grey market" tractors from foreign manufacturers that do not meet safety standards can be addressed in the short term. A Lead Center is essential to coordinate all of these activities and to engage partners through organizations such as the newly developed Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America.
Fatalities from agricultural tractors are by far the leading cause of death and serious injury in agriculture in the United States. This is an unacceptable burden since technical solutions exist. The goal of this project was to complete and synthesize the knowledge base, test the initial design of a community-based social marketing plan, and build the capacity to mount a national public health campaign to reduce fatalities and injuries related to agricultural tractors in the U.S.
This project involved unprecedented collaboration of all nine of the regional NIOSH Agricultural Centers, the National Agricultural Children’s Center, and collaborators at NIOSH. The project components were divided into evidence-building aspects and stakeholder-building aspects. Project components that were funded included: 1. Lead Center; 2. Costs of Tractor Operator Injuries from Overturns and Highway Collisions; 3. Impact of Changes in ROPS Standards, Regulations and Technology on Future Tractor ROPS Availability; 4. Documentation of Acceptability and Procedures for Financial Incentives for Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) Retrofitting; 5. Designing Community-based Social Marketing Programs for Tractor Safety; 6. Communications and Partners. A Leadership Council, including representatives from all of the collaborating NIOSH Agricultural Centers, coordinated and oversaw completion and synthesis of the projects.
The related ROPS project in New York clearly shows the power of direct rebates. The next step in a national campaign should include regional demonstration projects, focused on key at-risk populations. To be successful: ROPS must be available and a distribution system in place; incentives need to be included, funding sources identified, and compelling messages created to enlist funders and policy makers; and social marketing tools need to be tailored to regional needs. The emerging issue of importation of “grey market” tractors from foreign manufacturers that do not meet safety standards, can be addressed in the short term. To sustain the momentum of this effort, it is also essential to establish a Lead Center and engage partners through organizations such as the newly developed Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America. Key issues include: financial support and political will to create incentives; regionally appropriate social marketing campaigns to build awareness of the value and importance of ROPS; systems to efficiently deliver and install ROPS retrofits including involvement of ROPS manufacturers, and equipment dealers; and research and development to ensure that ROPS are available. Based upon the findings of these six projects included in phase one of the National Agricultural Tractor Safety Initiative and the NY ROPS retro-fit study it is clear that a phase two regional approach is important prior to a national campaign.
The National Agricultural Tractor Safety Initiative was the first project to involve collaboration of investigators from all ten of the NIOSH Agricultural Centers (including the Children's Center). An important result was the creation of a multidisciplinary, multicenter team or network. That (network) resource should continue to be supported to effectively address the problem of reducing fatalities and injuries related to agricultural tractors. Campaigns to get ROPS on agricultural tractors in the U.S. can be successful, as demonstrated by the study in New York. It is clear that social marketing tools and messages, and interventions need to be tailored to regional needs.
The next step is to sustain this national campaign through regional demonstration projects, focused on key at-risk and high-risk populations. The success of this project is dependant on the availability of ROPS and a distribution system including manufactures and dealers; a ROPS incentive program; identification of funding sources: creation of compelling messages to enlist funders and policy makers; and tailoring of social marketing tools for regional needs. The emerging issue of importation of "grey market" tractors from foreign manufacturers that do not meet safety standards can be addressed in the short term. A Lead Center is essential to coordinate all of these activities and to engage partners through organizations such as the newly developed Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America.
Reynolds SJ, Groves W. 2000. Effectiveness of roll-over protective structures in reducing farm tractor fatalities. Am J Prev Med 18(4S):63-69.
Cole HP, Myers ML, Westneat SC [2006]. Frequency and severity of injuries to operators during overturns of farm tractors. J Agricul Safety Health 12(2):127-138.
Comer RS, Ayers P, Liu J [2007]. Evaluation of engineering plastic for rollover protective structure (ROPS) mounting. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health 13 (2).
Myers ML, Cole HP, Westneat SC [2005]. Cost-effectiveness of a dealer's intervention for retrofitting rollover protective structures. Injury Prevention. 11(3):169-173.
The findings and conclusions in this poster are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Citations to Web sites external to NIOSH do not constitute NIOSH endorsement of the sponsoring organizations or their programs or products. Furthermore, NIOSH is not responsible for the content of these Web sites.
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