Engineering Control Technologies to Protect Operators in Agricultural All-Terrain Vehicle Rollovers.

HIGHLIGHTS Rollovers are the leading cause of injury and fatality in farm all-terrain vehicle (ATV) incidents. Engineering technologies to prevent rollovers or protect the operator in ATV crashes were reviewed in this study. The advances in safety for ATVs are correlated with improvements in stability, handling, and crashworthiness.

Editorial: The Power of Safety Professionals to Effect Change.

In 2006, Cole et al. (2006) reported on tractor overturn-related injuries in Kentucky from a random sample of farmers that numbered 6,063 respondents. The highest number of people who experienced tractor overturns were operators 16 to 20 years old.

Australian Leadership: Saving Lives with Crush Prevention Devices.

The burden of injury and death due to quad bike [all-terrain vehicle, or ATV] use cannot be allowed to continue unchecked, and ongoing delay in action may permit to further avoidable tragedies." -Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (2016, p. 13).

Rural Kentucky High School Students' Exposure to All-Terrain Vehicle Riding and Injuries.

From 1982 to 2007, Kentucky had 459 deaths related to all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), fifth highest among US states. By 2012, Kentucky ranked fourth highest, with 578 ATV-related deaths. Following the sentinel event of an ATV-related traumatic brain injury to an unhelmeted high school student, the authors developed a 19-item survey that collected data regarding rural Kentucky high school students' years of ATV driving, second-rider frequency, typical duration of riding events, estimated weekly number of riding events, and frequency of helmet use.

A spatial cluster analysis of tractor overturns in Kentucky from 1960 to 2002.

Background: Agricultural tractor overturns without rollover protective structures are the leading cause of farm fatalities in the United States. To our knowledge, no studies have incorporated the spatial scan statistic in identifying high-risk areas for tractor overturns. The aim of this study was to determine whether tractor overturns cluster in certain parts of Kentucky and identify factors associated with tractor overturns.

Review of occupational hazards associated with aquaculture.

Aquaculture is an emerging sector that is associated with most of the same hazards that are present in agriculture generally, but many fish farming tasks entail added danger, including working around water and working at night. Comprehensive studies of these hazards have not been conducted, and substantial uncertainty exists as to the extent of these hazards. The question addressed in this investigation was, "What is known about potential hazardous occupational exposures to aquatic plant and animal farmers?" In this review, causes of death included drowning, electrocution, crushing-related injury, hydrogen sulfide poisoning, and fatal head injury.

Risk analysis of tractor overturns on catfish farms.

Fatal and nonfatal injuries occur on catfish farms as a result of tractor overturns, but these injuries can be greatly mitigated when a tractor is equipped with a rollover protective structure (ROPS) and seatbelt. This study analyzed the proportion of tractors on catfish farms in Mississippi not equipped with ROPS and the cost of retrofitting those tractors with a ROPS and seatbelt as compared to the expected benefits gained from adding the protection. To determine if farmers have the financial incentive to retrofit older tractors, a net present value framework was used because the expected benefits occur over a number of years.

Cost effectiveness of wearing head protection on all-terrain vehicles.

The use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) has increased in the United States and elsewhere over the last three decades, along with an increased frequency of incidents resulting in serious injuries, among which have been head injuries. ATVs are designed for motorized off-highway work and recreation, can weigh up to 600 lbs (272 kg), and may reach speeds as high as 75 mph (120 km/h). ATV crashes, including collisions and overturns, were responsible for 8104 fatalities from 1982 to 2006.

Simple solutions for reduced fish farm hazards.

Aquaculture poses emerging challenges for agricultural safety and health. Fish farming has many of the same hazards as other types of farming, but it also poses additional hazards associated with water impoundments and night-time work. In a multidisciplinary approach, researchers from four universities are identifying occupational hazards in fish farming and identifying no-cost or low-cost "simple solutions" to reduce or eliminate them.

Injury severity related to overturn characteristics of tractors.

Introduction: Early studies of injuries associated with overturns indicate that more fatalities occurred when a tractor overturned beyond 90 degrees (continuous roll) relative to the impact plane. Recently, the principle of preventing continuous rolls has re-emerged for the protection of riding lawnmower operators.

Method: Related to tractors, a population-based study was conducted that compared the severity of fatal and nonfatal injuries between a 90 degrees and continuous roll for tractors equipped with rollover protective structures (ROPS) and not equipped with a ROPS (non- ROPS).

Continuous overturn control of compactors/rollers by rollover protective structures.

The objective of this article is to report on the effectiveness of Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) in preventing continuous overturns of compactors/rollers. This study is a case-based analysis of government investigation reports of injury-related overturns of compactors/rollers. The overturns were predominately on construction sites including road and embankment construction in the USA.

Cost-effectiveness of roll-over protective structures.

Background: Roll-over protective structures (ROPS) are proven to prevent fatalities from agricultural tractor overturns, accounting for more than one-third of all production agriculture-related fatalities in the United States. In 1997, there were approximately 1.2 million ROPS-retrofittable tractors in the United States.