Respirator and hearing protection use in the certified safe farm program.

An evaluation was conducted on the results of the Certified Safe Farm controlled intervention program on a wide range of occupational health and safety outcomes. This report focuses on the outcomes of personal protective equipment (PPE) usage among one cohort of 438 Iowa (owner-operator) farmers in the Certified Safe Farm study during a 5-year period from 2004 to 2008. Intervention farmers reported an 11% increase in regular respirator usage and a 23% increase in regular use of hearing protection relative to comparison groups.