Safety status of farm tractors that operate on public highways in four rural Kentucky counties.

Kentucky FFA students inspected 153 farm tractors for safety features that prevent operator injuries during tractor overturns, highway collisions, runovers, and power take-off (PTO) entanglements. Tractor mean age was 23.6 years (SD = 20.9). Rollover protective structures (ROPS) were present on 50.66% of tractors, but only 33.33% of these had functional seatbelts. Loose and damaged seats were found on 30.46% of tractors. In 38.99% of cases, tractor rear-wheel fenders exposed operators to moving tractor tires, and 48.67% of tractors had dangerously worn or damaged tires. Tractors with a narrow front-end stance comprised 16.11% of the total. Only 53.06% of the tractors had starters with secure hard cover by-pass starting shields that fully covered the starter terminals, and 37.37% had fully exposed terminals with no cover. PTO master shields with all parts present and undamaged were present on only 29.27% of the tractors, and in 39.02% of cases the entire shield was missing. Only 44.67% of the tractors had properly mounted and fully functional mounting and dismounting access steps and handholds. SMV emblems were missing on 53.64% of tractors and in the proper place and condition in only 25.83% of cases. Tractors with properly mounted and fully functional head and tail lights comprised 40.94% of the sample, and tractors with no functional lights comprised 24.16%. Properly mounted, clean, and functional rearview mirrors were present on only 19.87% of the tractors, and 69.54% had no rearview mirrors. The project increased farming and non-farming students' awareness of tractor safety issues, provided empirical data about the safety status of a sample of tractors that frequently travel public highways in four rural Kentucky farming counties, and promoted dialog about these issues with adult farmers and other community members with whom the students interacted.

Equipment dealers' perceptions of a community-based rollover protective structures promotion campaign.

Farming is one of the most hazardous occupations, and tractor overturns are the leading cause of agricultural fatalities. This article examines a community-based injury intervention designed to increase the number of rollover protective structures (ROPS) and seat belts on tractors and to promote safe operation of farm tractors in two counties. Equipment dealers who sell retrofit ROPS kits to farmers were a critical component of the intervention. Interviews were conducted with dealers after the 31-month intervention period to understand their perceptions, any difficulties they experienced as a result of the project and how a similar project could be improved. Comments were analyzed in relation to theories of persuasion. Results indicated that dealers believed the intervention was successful in producing behavior change among some farmers. Dealers also provided important insights into why some farmers continued to resist retrofitting tractors with ROPS. Recommendations are offered for designers of community-based interventions beyond the ROPS project described here.

Sex differences in principal farm operators' tractor driving safety beliefs and behaviors.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the widely accepted hypothesis that farm women are more concerned with safety issues and behaviors than their male counterparts are. METHODS: A telephone survey was administered to a random sample of Kentucky principal farm operators, 90 of whom were women. Participants were questioned about their tractor safety beliefs and practices. RESULTS: No significant sex differences in tractor safety perceptions and behavior were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Socialization of women to the role of principal farm operator may override their typically greater sensitivity to safety issues, an important consideration when designing safety campaigns for this population.

Proposed design modifications to reduce risk of operating rotary field mowers.

The primary objective of this project was to reduce risk of injury associated with operating a rotary mower driven by a tractor power take-off (PTO) by developing and evaluating design improvements and determining their economic feasibility. Researchers have concluded that alteration of machinery design has a greater impact on the reduction of accidents than safety training. Implementation of an Operator Presence Sensing System (OPSS) and removal of the PTO are the two injury-reducing, engineering modifications evaluated by this research. Hydraulic power allows this to occur by providing dynamic braking, few moving parts (removal of the PTO), and controllable power. A hydraulic circuit was developed to power the mower and to enable an OPSS. Tractor hydraulics were simulated using a hydraulic training bench. Two mower configurations were tested: 6.55 cm3 rev(-1) (0.4 in.3 rev(-1)) displacement motor with a 0.748 kg blade and 47.5 cm3 rev(-1) (2.9 in.3 rev(-1)) displacement motor with a 9.4 kg blade. A PTO-driven rotary mower was not used to test the circuit due to spatial and safety limitations of the hydraulic training bench. Results from the first mower configuration verified the concepts behind the hydraulic circuit. The second configuration verified the OPSS and indicated the applicability of the circuit to a rotary mower.