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Farm tractors, and the use of seat belts and roll‐over protective structures
Author(s) -
Kelsey Timothy W.,
May John J.,
Jenkins Paul L.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199610)30:4<447::aid-ajim10>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational safety and health , seat belt , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , occupational exposure , suicide prevention , farm workers , environmental health , toxicology , aeronautics , forensic engineering , automotive engineering , engineering , agriculture , ecology , pathology , biology
Roll‐over protective structures (ROPS) on farm tractors could significantly reduce the rate of fatal occupational injury on farms, but comparatively few tractors have them. Many of the policy discussions have focused on trying to identify the percentage of tractors that do not have ROPS, even though such a focus probably does not accurately represent effective protection by ROPS. This study investigates whether including differences in hours of usage, tractor activities, and seat belt use affects estimates of farm operators' protection by ROPS. In general, tractors used more hours a year were more likely to have ROPS. ROPS status also varied by tractor activity. When adjusting for seat belt use, effective ROPS protection is much less than when considering just ROPS status. Measures of the effective coverage of ROPS and policy responses should reflect these differences in hours, activities, and seat belt use. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.