Tractor seating for operators with paraplegia.

This feasibility study explored the utility of using a pressure mapping instrument to explore the variable of pressure under subjects sitting on a commonly used tractor seat, and four other cushion interventions. The research model used single-subject with repeated measures during simulated tractor operation. In examining the graphical images and pressure mapping data available from the instrument; the contour tractor seat used in this study was not sufficient in redistributing pressure for people with paraplegia operating tractors, putting them at greater risk for acquiring a pressure ulcer. The use of pressure mapping equipment to study seated pressure within dynamic environments is achievable, and further studies need to be performed and replicated in simulated or in vivo environments. The data in this study suggest people with paraplegia operating agricultural equipment may not have acceptable pressure distribution using the manufacturer's installed seat and must rely on adding wheelchair cushions or other materials to the seat surface to create acceptable pressure distribution. However, doing so changes other aspects of the seating micro or macro climate that can also be problematic.

Summary of Auger-Related Entanglement Incidents Occurring Inside Agricultural Confined Spaces.

Entanglements in energized equipment, including augers found in agricultural workplaces, have historically been a significant cause of traumatic injury. Incidents involving augers located inside agricultural confined spaces (primarily grain storage structures and forage silos), although relatively rare events, are a widely recognized problem due to the relative severity of the resulting injuries and the complexities of victim extrication. However, this problem is neither well documented nor elucidated in the research literature, other than anecdotal observations relating to medical treatment of auger-related injuries and citations for non-compliance with federal and state workplace safety regulations. A review of nearly 1,650 cases documented in the Purdue Agricultural Confined Spaces Incident Database from 1964 to 2013 identified 167 incidents involving entanglement in an energized auger that occurred while the victim was working inside an agricultural confined space. These incidents primarily included in-floor unloading augers, sweep augers, stirring augers, and auger components found on silo unloaders. Cases involving portable tube augers used to handle grain outside grain storage structures were not included. Based on analysis of the data, approximately 98% of known victims were male, with the 21-45 age group reporting the largest number of incidents. Nearly one-third (32.3%) of incidents were fatal, and lower limb amputation was the most frequently reported injury type. (It is believed that non-fatal incidents are grossly under-reported in the data set due to a lack of comprehensive reporting requirements, especially for most farms, feedlots, and seed processing operations, which are generally exempt from compliance with OSHA machine guarding, confined-space, and grain-handling standards.) The type of auger identified most frequently as the agent of injury was the exposed in-floor auger (48), which frequently resulted in amputation of one or more lower limbs when the victim stepped into an unguarded opening or well in the floor of the confined space. The primary reason identified as to why workers were exposed to energized augers in the cases documented was to assist in the removal of residual or out-of-condition grain. The large number of cases involving augers on top-unloading silo unloaders (36) was not anticipated. Silo unloaders also accounted for the largest number of documented fatalities (15). This analysis is the first known attempt to provide a better understanding of the frequency, severity, and causative factors of these incidents. Those key causative factors were found to be: (1) lack of or inadequate guarding, (2) unintentional energizing of components due to a lack of lockout/tagout training and provisions, and (3) exposure of untrained or inexperienced workers to energized and unguarded components during procedures to remove residual grain or other agricultural crops from storage structures. It is hoped that the results and recommendations presented will raise awareness of the hazards related to using energized equipment in confined spaces as well as contribute to development of new evidenced-based educational resources, engineering safety standards, and workplace safety regulations.

Development and Validation of Written Exam Items for the Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Orders (AgHOs) Certification Training Program.

Research was conducted to develop and validate a pool of exam items that can be used to test the readiness of youth, ages 14-15 years, to be certified under the current federally mandated Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Orders (AgHOs). The AgHOs require training prior to employment in agricultural workplaces that the Secretary of Labor has determined are especially hazardous for youth within the prescribed age range. Under the current provisions of the AgHOs certification process, non-exempt youth seeking employment in agriculture are required to pass a written exam concentrating on safe work practices as partial satisfaction to receive certification of eligibility for employment to perform certain tasks. However, the regulations provide little guidance concerning the format of the exam, subject matter to be covered, degree of difficulty, or minimum passing score. As part of the USDA-sponsored Hazardous Occupations Safety Training in Agriculture (HOSTA) initiative, efforts have been made to develop consistent and evidence-based testing methods for disseminating the test protocols to instructors. The goal was to expand, enhance, and maintain the reliability of the exam item pool for the AgHOs certification process. Item development was based on the HOSTA-supported Gearing Up for Safety: Production Agriculture Safety Training for Youth curriculum. To ensure adequate item availability, the current item pool was expanded to include a minimum of two test items for each of the 157 cognitive-based core competencies developed as part of the Gearing Up curriculum design process. Administering 70-item exams that were generated from the item pool to 568 youth, ages 13-18 years, provided evidence of item validity. The result was a pool of 367 validated exam items.

Summarization of Injury and Fatality Factors Involving Children and Youth in Grain Storage and Handling Incidents.

This article summarizes data gathered on 246 documented cases of children and youth under the age of 21 involved in grain storage and handling incidents in agricultural workplaces from 1964 to 2013 in the U.S. that have been entered into the Purdue Agricultural Confined Space Incident Database. The database is the result of ongoing efforts to collect and file information on documented injuries, fatalities, and entrapments in all forms of agricultural confined spaces. While the frequency of injuries and fatalities involving children and youth in agriculture has decreased in recent years, incidents related to agricultural confined spaces, especially grain storage and handling facilities, have remained largely unchanged during the same period. Approximately 21% of all documented incidents involved children and youth (age 20 and younger), and more than 77% of all documented incidents were fatal, suggesting an under-reporting of non-fatal incidents. Findings indicate that the majority of youth incidents occurred at OSHA exempt agricultural worksites. The states reporting the most incidents were Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, and Minnesota. Grain transport vehicles represented a significant portion of incidents involving children under the age of 16. The overwhelming majority of victims were male, and most incidents (50%) occurred in June, October, and November. Recommendations include developing intervention strategies that target OSHA exempt farms, feedlots, and seed processing facilities; preparing engineering design and best practice standards that reduce the exposure of children and youth to agricultural confined spaces; and developing gender-specific safety resources that incorporate gender-sensitive strategies to communicate safety information to the population of young males with the greatest risk of exposure to the hazards of agricultural confined spaces.

Summary of Agricultural Confined-Space Related Cases: 1964-2013.

Since 1977, the Purdue University Agricultural Safety and Health Program has managed a database with on going efforts to identify, document, and analyze information on injuries and fatalities in all forms of agricultural confined spaces, with special attention given to incidents involving grain, forage, and manure storage structures and agricultural transport vehicles. The database contains over 1650 cases from 1964 to the present and two cases before 1964. The average number of cases in the last ten years remains at a high of 63 cases per year. Overall, confined-space related cases were documented in 43 states, with the most occurring in the Corn Belt region. More than 1000 (62%) of these cases were grain-related entrapments; however, in recent years the proportion of grain-related cases has declined with more aggressive surveillance for all types of agricultural confined-space incidents including falls and entanglements inside grain storage structures. Grain entrapments represented 49% of all confined space cases in 2013 as compared to earlier years when nearly all documented cases were grain entrapment related. There has also been a shift in location distribution of cases, with the southern states now representing 18% of all recent cases. These findings are critical for informing the discussion on developing regulations, design standards, and safety programs to reduce the frequency and severity of these incidents.

Rearward Visibility Issues Related to Agricultural Tractors and Self-Propelled Machinery: Contributing Factors, Potential Solutions.

As the size, complexity, and speed of agricultural tractors and self-propelled machinery have increased, so have the visibility-related issues, placing significant importance on the visual skills, alertness, and reactive abilities of the operator. Rearward movement of large agricultural equipment has been identified in the literature as causing both fatalities and injuries to bystanders who were not visible to the operator and damage to both the machine and stationary objects. The addition of monitoring assistance, while not a new concept, has advanced significantly, offering agricultural machinery operators greater options for increasing their awareness of the area surrounding the machine. In this research, we attempt to (1) identify and describe the key contributors to agricultural machinery visibility issues, i.e., operator-related and machine-related factors, and (2) enumerate and evaluate the potential solutions being offered that address these factors. Enhanced operator safety and efficiency should result from a better understanding of the efforts to solve the visibility problems inherent in large tractors and self-propelled agricultural machinery.

Determination of Entrapment Victim Extrication Forces with and without Use of a Grain Rescue Tube.

The forces required to extricate a test mannequin from a grain mass when buried at different depths with and without a grain restraint system were determined. When there was no grain restraint system in place, the vertical force required to pull the mannequin from the grain when it was buried waist deep and to the underarms was 1259 and 1766 N (283 and 397 lb(f)), respectively. It increased to 1584 N (356 lb(f)) (+26%) and 2153 N (484 lb(f)) (+22%), respectively, with the restraint in place due to the changes in grain properties brought about by the insertion of the rescue tube. It was concluded that the use of a grain restraint during extrication of a victim does not reduce the forces required and that forcefully pulling an entrapped victim, especially with mechanical assistance, with or without a grain restraint system could result in severe injuries and possible death due to the forces exerted on the victim. The authors recommend that these findings be incorporated into current grain extrication training for emergency first responders.

Worker hazards associated with the use of grain vacuum systems.

Over the past two decades, there has been more widespread use of pneumatic handling of grain at commercial grain storage facilities and on farms as these operations have increased grain storage capacity and handle larger volumes of grain and feed In some cases, manufacturers have suggested that the use of these systems is a safer alternative to removing residual grain manually in conjunction with the use of sweep augers. The use of grain vacuum systems has also been increasingly documented as a strategy in responding to grain storage fires and human entrapment and engulfment in flowing grain. With greater utilization of these machines have come reports of entrapments and engulfments. This article summarizes 27 such documented incidents, including 21 fatalities, that resulted from the use of portable grain vacuum systems. It includes specific recommendations for engineering, educational, and regulatory strategies to reduce the risks associated with the use of these systems.

Summation of the frequency, severity, and primary causative factors associated with injuries and fatalities involving confined spaces in agriculture.

A project was undertaken to estimate the frequency, severity, and primary causative factors associated with injuries and fatalities involving confined spaces in agriculture, including grain bins, silos, and manure storage and handling facilities. A total of 1255 cases from 41 states were analyzed. These cases were included in the Purdue Agriculture Confined Space Database and occurred during the period 1964-2010. During the period 2001-2010, an average of 51 cases were documented annually. Approximately 71% of all documented cases involved grain, and over 16% of all cases involved children under the age of 16. This article presents a summary of the identified incidents and offers conclusions drawn from the study's findings.

Determination of effort required to insert a rescue tube into various grain types.

This study was conducted to quantify the forces required to insert the individual panels of a grain rescue tube into four grains of varying moisture contents. The study was conducted to address issues raised by emergency rescue personnel involved with extrication of victims entrapped in grain using a fabricated or commercially available grain containment system. These rescue aids are used to separate or protect the victim from the grain mass, enabling safe rescue. Conclusions drawn from the study included documentation that as the moisture content of the grain increases, the amount of resistance against tube insertion increases substantially. It was found that although the moisture content may be similar across several types of grain, the amount of work required to insert a rescue tube into the grain can vary. It was also concluded that the cohesiveness, angle of internal friction, and static coefficient of friction of the grain on the tube surface, which vary with moisture content and type of grain, were primary factors affecting the amount of effort needed to insert the tube. This article recommends that a consensus standard be developed covering the design and testing of grain rescue tube containment systems.

Establishing the need for an engineering standard for agricultural hitch pins.

Documented incidents have occurred in which failure or unintentional disengagement of agricultural hitch pins has contributed to property damage and personal injury. An examination of current hitch pin use on a convenience sample of farm operations in Indiana revealed a variety of non-standard, worn and damaged, and inappropriately sized hitch pins in use. Informal interviews with the farm operators confirmed that hitch pin misuse, failure, or disengagement is a relatively widespread problem that remains largely unaddressed. On-site observations also suggested a low use of hitch pin retaining devices or safety chains. A review of prior research revealed that little attention has been given to this problem, and currently no documentation allows for an estimate of the frequency or severity of losses associated with hitch pin misuse, failure, or disengagement. No specific engineering standards were found that directly applied to the design, appropriate selection, or loading capacity of agricultural hitch pins. Major suppliers of replacement hitch pins currently provide little or no information on matching hitch pin size to intended applications, and most replacement hitch pins examined were of foreign origin, with the overwhelming majority imported from China or India. These replacement hitch pins provided no specifications other than diameter, length, and, in some cases, labeling that indicated that the pins had been "heat treated. " Testing of a sample of 11 commercially available replacement hitch pins found variation along the length of the pin shaft and between individual pins in surface hardness, a potential predictor of pin failure. Examination of 17 commercially available replacement pins also revealed a variety of identifiers used to describe pin composition and fabrication methods, e.g., "heat treated." None of the pins examined provided any specifications on loading capacity. It was therefore concluded that there is a need to develop an agricultural hitch pin engineering standard that would reflect current agricultural applications and practices and that would be promoted to both original equipment manufacturers and manufacturers and suppliers of replacement hitch pins. The standard should address the design of composite pins, heat treating, surface hardening, loading capacity and labeling of such, incorporation of unintentional disengagement prevention devices, indicators of the need for replacement due to wear, and safety information that should be included in operator instructions. ASABE is the most appropriate organization to develop such a standard. It was also concluded that agricultural safety and health programs and professionals need to raise the awareness of farmers concerning the appropriate selection and use of agricultural hitch pins, including the need to replace non-standard pins with pins less likely to fail or disengage during use, the need to replace hitch pins with indications of potential failure, and the importance of using appropriate safety chains, especially during transport of equipment behind tractors and trucks on public roads.

Summary of prior grain entrapment rescue strategies.

Entrapment in flowable agricultural material continues to be a relevant problem facing both farmers and employees of commercial grain storage and handling operations. While considerable work has been done previously on the causes of entrapment in grain and possible preventative measures, there is little research on the efficacy of current first response or extrication techniques. With the recent introduction of new grain rescue equipment and training programs, it was determined that the need exists to document and summarize prior grain rescue strategies with a view to develop evidence-based recommendations that would enhance the efficacy of the techniques used and reduce the risks to both victims and first responders. Utilizing the Purdue University Agricultural Entrapment Database, all data were queried for information related to extrication of victims from grain entrapments documented over the period 1964-2006. Also analyzed were data from other sources, including public records related to entrapments and information from onsite investigations. Significant findings of this study include the following: (1) between 1964 and 2006, the number of entrapments averaged 16 per year, with the frequency increasing over the last decade; (2) of all cases documented, about 45% resulted in fatality; (3) no less than 44% of entrapments occurred in shelled corn; (4) fatality was the result in 82% of cases where victims were submerged beneath the grain surface, while fatality occurred in 10% of cases where victims were only partially engulfed; (5) the majority of rescues were reported to have been conducted by untrained personnel who were at the scene at the time of entrapment; and (6) in those cases where the rescue strategies were known, 56% involved cutting or punching holes in the side walls of the storage structure, 19% involved utilizing onsite fabricated grain retaining walls to extricate partially entrapped victims, and the use of grain vacuum machines as a rescue strategy was on the increase. Among the recommendations growing out of the study are these: (1) conduct further tests on the efficacy of grain rescue strategies, including the use of recently introduced grain rescue tubes and grain vacuum machines; (2) incorporate the findings into future first responder training programs; and (3) enhance the first response skills of personnel working at grain storage facilities, both on-farm and at commercial operations.

Dissemination of assistive technology information to farmers and ranchers with disabilities.

Since induction of the AgrAbility program through appropriations contained in the 1990 Farm Bill, the national and state/regional AgrAbility projects have used a variety of methods to disseminate information about assistive technology (AT) to farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities. To date, no known research has been conducted to assess those delivery methods from the perspectives of either the persons with disabilities in need of information or the education and rehabilitation professionals who work with them. This study's purpose was two-fold: (1) review various dissemination strategies to identify those documented as being more effective, and (2) conduct surveys to ascertain the perspectives of AgrAbility project professionals and a national network of farmers and ranchers with disabilities (called the Barn Builders). Key findings of the study were as follows: (1) the farmers and ranchers most preferred receiving information via printed newsletters (71%) and printed publications (67%); (2) AgrAbility staff most preferred receiving information via internet-based publication access (61%), e-mail (60%), and printed publications (58%); (3) many farmers and ranchers perceived that dissemination strategies were moving toward the internet (53%) and that AT information was generally more available now than in the past (38%); (4) both AgrAbility staff and the Barn Builders tended to agree that farmers still wanted to receive information in printed form; and (5) neither age nor education level appeared to be a strong predictor of internet use by farmers. Key recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of current AT information delivery methods included: (1) implementing effective document management strategies for all information resources, especially for online content; and (2) minimizing language translation efforts, since such a small percentage of the AgrAbility project customer base is primarily non-English speaking. It is believed that the findings of this study also have implications for service delivery strategies in other areas, including topics relating to agricultural safety and health.

Content validation using an expert panel: assessment process for assistive technology adopted by farmers with disabilities.

This article reports the use of an expert panel to perform content validation of an experimental assessment process for the safety of assistive technology (AT) adopted by farmers with disabilities. The validation process was conducted by a panel of six experts experienced in the subject matter, i.e., design, use, and assessment of AT for farmers with disabilities. The exercise included an evaluation session and two focus group sessions. The evaluation session consisted of using the assessment process under consideration by the panel to evaluate a set of nine ATs fabricated by a farmer on his farm site. The expert panel also participated in the focus group sessions conducted immediately before and after the evaluation session. The resulting data were analyzed using discursive analysis, and the results were incorporated into the final assessment process. The method and the results are presented with recommendations for the use of expert panels in research projects and validation of assessment tools.

Proposed performance standards for the Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Order certification training program.

The performance standards that accompany Gearing Up for Safety, the agricultural production safety training curriculum for youth, were designed to meet the certification testing requirements of the Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Order (AgHOs) certification training program. The AgHOs requires that certain youth who are older than 13 and younger than 16 years of age complete a prescribed training program before being eligible for employment on farms to perform certain tasks considered hazardous. These training resources will be available for implementation and can be accessed by contacting the second author. To our knowledge, up until this time, few, if any, standardized testing procedures or instruments have had the necessary psychometric evidence to support use of the resulting scores to assess the readiness of youth to meet the basic certification requirements contained in the AgHOs. This article describes the rationale, methods, and key findings from a standard-setting session held to establish minimum passing scores for a proposed testing process. The test will be used as a component of the Gearing Up for Safety certification process for youth workers seeking employment to perform job functions as specified under the AgHOs. Readers may be able to apply this standardized testing process, or similarly accepted processes, to other or future testing and certification projects involving agricultural safety and health.

Analysis of 151 agricultural driveline-related incidents resulting in fatal and non-fatal injuries to U.S. children and adolescents under age 18 from 1970 through 2004.

Agricultural driveline-related incidents have been identified as an important cause of farm-related injury resulting in death and permanently disabling conditions to children and adolescents. A database of driveline-related injuries, including both PTO drivelines and secondary shafts and drivelines on agricultural equipment, developed at Purdue University was mined to identify all cases involving children and adolescents under age 18 who had been involved in a driveline-related incident from 1970 through 2004. Although these incidents did not account for a high percentage of all childhood farm-related injuries, this age group was found to make up nearly one in four documented agricultural driveline incidents. Of the 685 cases in the database with known ages, 151 were identified as youth under age 18. Findings indicated that these incidents often resulted in catastrophic injuries including amputation, spinal cord injuries, and compound bone fractures. Over the period studied, the trend in documented cases is declining, with recent years reporting below the yearly average and 2004 reporting no fatalities. Youth, primarily males, age 13 had the highest frequency of incidents, and over 50% of all cases occurred to youth ages 12 to 17. Fall was identified as the season with the most reported incidents. Amputations were documented in nearly 50% of all cases, and augers, elevators, and conveyors were the machines most frequently identified as being involved in the incident. Recommendations and strategies that specifically target the childhood injury problem related to agricultural drivelines are provided.

Using fault tree analysis to identify contributing factors to engulfment in flowing grain in on-farm grain bins.

Findings reported by researchers at Illinois State University and Purdue University indicated that since 1980, an average of eight individuals per year have become engulfed and died in farm grain bins in the U.S. and Canada and that all these deaths are significant because they are believed to be preventable. During a recent effort to develop intervention strategies and recommendations for an ASAE farm grain bin safety standard, fault tree analysis (FTA) was utilized to identify contributing factors to engulfments in grain stored in on-farm grain bins. FTA diagrams provided a spatial perspective of the circumstances that occurred prior to engulfment incidents, a perspective never before presented in other hazard analyses. The FTA also demonstrated relationships and interrelationships of the contributing factors. FTA is a useful tool that should be applied more often in agricultural incident investigations to assist in the more complete understanding of the problem studied.

Measurement of operator exposure to power take-off driven augers.

Prior studies at Purdue University have shown that PTO entanglements occur most frequently on portable grain augers. A research project was conducted to measure operator exposure to PTO components and document work patterns during the use of grain augers. Information on the methodologies used to measure operator exposure is presented along with data on exposure to conventional grain augers while unloading from trucks and wagons, extended dump hopper augers, and swing-away hopper augers. It was found that operators had a higher exposure time to operating PTO components when the driveline was located on the right side of the grain auger, as one stands facing the hopper end of the auger, than on the left side of the grain auger when using conventional grain augers and grain trucks. It was determined that this added exposure was due to the position of the driver's door of the truck, the natural path of the driver from the operator's seat to the rear of the truck, and the movement of the truck body into the workspace when tilted. Of all scenarios examined, operators had the highest exposure time when using conventional grain augers and gravity-flow grain wagons. Operators had no recorded exposure time when operating swing-away hopper augers. Recommendations were made based on the observations of this study for reducing operator exposure through increased awareness of hazards and reconfiguration of the way augers are incorporated into grain handling operations.

Utilizing expert panels in agricultural safety and health research.

This article reports on the use of expert panels by Purdue University's Agricultural Safety and Health Program staff to address three separate research questions related to: (1) developing strategies for the prevention of flowing grain engulfments, (2) evaluation of commercial lifts used by operators with restricted mobility to gain access to agricultural tractors and equipment, and (3) identifying essential competencies for youth enrolled in federally mandated tractor and machinery certification programs. Advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of expert panels are addressed, and specific examples of outcomes are presented. Recommendations for using expert panels during research projects are also included.

Predicting the potential of engulfment using an on-farm grain storage hazard assessment tool.

The goal of this research was to address the problem of engulfment in flowing grain in on-farm metal grain storage bins. This was accomplished using a systems approach to identify contributing factors to engulfment, which were then used to develop a 28-question Farm Grain Hazard Assessment Tool (FGHAT). A numerically weighted high- and low-risk response accompanied each question, the sum of which resulted in a potential-risk-of-engulfment score for a given on-farm grain handling and storage system. The assessment tool was pilot tested on a sample of 47 farms. The difference between the mean scores of farms with a history of engulfment (n = 14) and the mean scores of farms with no prior reported engulfment incident (n = 33) was significant (p < or = 0.001). This finding suggests that it is possible, using the hazard assessment tool, to predict the increased likelihood of an engulfment in a specific on-farm grain storage and handling system. It was also found that the management of grain during storage and an individual's perception of risk and willingness to avoid flowing grain hazards had the most significant impact on reducing the potential for an engulfment. In contrast, a history of grain plugging problems was not found to make a considerable difference in scores between the two groups of farms. The presence of stirring devices in bins, accommodation for lockout devices on electrical controls, and using grain storage bins smaller than 20, 000 bu capacity also had little impact on the difference in scores. Based upon the level of significance of each of the 28 questions'ability to predict an increased risk of engulfment, it was concluded that a valid response could be obtained with as few as eight questions. Recommendations concerning continued study and application of the tool were formulated, including the effectiveness of the tool in changing the farmers' behavior, and the findings also contributed to the revision of a potential engineering standard for on-farm grain storage structures.