Understanding the nature and causes of agricultural injuries can be difficult because, unlike other employment sectors, the farming industry is often exempt from certain reporting requirements to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to a pair of studies by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Researchers conducted a systemic review of academic literature addressing agricultural worker injuries in the U.S. and abroad, looking at incidents between 1985 and 2022.
The studies looked at newspaper clippings, death certificates, hospital records, emergency medical services data, government records, workers compensation insurance claims and other sources.
The authors of the studies found that injuries linked to overall agricultural machinery “significantly contribute” to fatalities and non-fatal accidents.
“One of our most important findings is that the way you conduct injury surveillance will have an impact on your results,” Salah Issa, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, said in a statement.
Researchers said agriculture is a dangerous occupation globally, but that assessing injuries in the U.S. is especially difficult due to a lack of a central reporting system.
Farm work is often exempt from reporting requirements since many farms are family-run, with 10 or fewer full-time employees, researchers stated.