Selecting target populations for ROPS retrofit programs in Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Agriculture has the highest injury and fatality rates when compared with other U.S. industries, and tractor overturns remain the leading cause of agricultural fatalities.

Farm safety research to practice: the long road from the laboratory to the farm.

Research to Practice is a critically important component in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH) mission of conducting applied research in support of worker health and safety. All of the excellent research in the world will not help workers if the products of that research are not effectively integrated into widespread use in industry. For this reason, Research to Practice has been a major program emphasis within NIOSH.

An ergonomic assessment of the long handle blueberry harvesting rake.

Background: Previous work shows the superiority of the long-handled blueberry harvesting rake (LHR) for worker preference and productivity compared to the short-handle rake (SHR).

Methods: Post-shift interviews on occurrence, location, and severity of pain, and video-based observation of body postures enabled ergonomic assessment of Maine workers harvesting blueberries. Workers randomly crossed between LHR and SHR on consecutive work days.

Occupational injury and treatment patterns of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are thought to be at increased risk for occupational injury and illness. Past surveillance efforts that employed medical chart review may not be representative of all farmworkers, since the proportion of farmworkers using migrant health centers (MHCs) and area hospital emergency rooms (ERs) was unknown. The purpose of the current study was to determine the proportion of workers using MHCs versus other sources of occupational health care, and to use these data to correct previous occupational injury and illness rate estimates.

Evaluation of a community-based effort to reduce blueberry harvesting injury.

Background: Harvesting of blueberries is associated with musculoskeletal injury. This study assessed the effects of several alternative designs of the harvesting rake.

Methods: A community-based work team selected rake design for intervention and pilot tested potential design modifications to the blueberry harvesting rake.