Facts and figures on farm safety

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agriculture is among the most hazardous industries. Fatal and nonfatal injuries pose a significant threat to farmers, including the many young people who work on farms. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in an effort to promote productive and safe workplaces, supports programs that conduct research on injuries associated with agriculture as well as pesticide exposure, pulmonary disease, musculoskeletal disorders, hearing loss, and stress. Studying the results of such research, compiled by NIOSH, may compel veteran and novice farmers to further emphasize safety measures and promote practices that can reduce risk for accidents on the farm.

• Estimates indicate that there were roughly 2.1 million full-time workers employed in production agriculture in 2017 and between 1.4 and 2.1 million hired crop workers employed annually on crop farms in the United States.

• An estimated 893,000 young people under 20 years of age resided on farms in 2014. More than half of those young people performed farm work, and an additional 266,000 youth were hired to work on farms in 2014.

• Each day, roughly 100 agricultural workers suffer injuries that cause them to miss time at work.

• In 2014, 12,000 youth were injured on farms, and 4,000 of those youths could trace their injuries to farm work.

• In 2016, 417 farmers and farm workers died from work-related injuries. Tractor overturns and other transportation incidents were the leading cause of death for these farmers and farm workers.

• A rollover protection system, or ROPS, is a structure, similar to rollcages and rollbars in cars and trucks, intended to protect farm equipment operators from injuries caused by overturns or rollovers. NIOSH notes that an ROPS is the most effective way to prevent overturn deaths. Despite that, in 2014, only 62 percent of tractors used on farms in the U.S. were equipped with an ROPS.
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