It does not occur by chance: a mediation model of the influence of workers' characteristics, work environment factors, and near misses on agricultural machinery-related accidents

Agriculture is among the most hazardous productive sectors, and farm machinery is a major source of injury. In the present study, a mediated model was used to test the role played by workers’ characteristics, work environment factors, and near misses in predicting agricultural machinery-related accidents in a sample of Italian users (n = 290). Hours worked per week (via the mediation of an adverse work environment) showed a positive association and years of work experience (via the mediation of risk perception) showed a negative association with the probability of being involved in a near miss, which in turn showed a positive association with the probability of being involved in a machinery-related accident. Implications for tailored preventive interventions are discussed

Falls From Agricultural Machinery: Risk Factors Related to Work Experience, Worked Hours, and Operators' Behavior

Objective: We investigated the risk factors for falls when egressing from agricultural tractors, analyzing the role played by worked hours, work experience, operators' behavior, and near misses. Background: Many accidents occur within the agricultural sector each year. Among them, falls while dismounting the tractor represent a major source of injuries. Previous studies pointed out frequent hazardous movements and incorrect behaviors adopted by operators to exit the tractor cab. However, less is known about the determinants of such behaviors. In addition, near misses are known to be important predictors of accidents, but they have been under-investigated in the agricultural sector in general and as concerns falls in particular. Method: A questionnaire assessing dismounting behaviors, previous accidents and near misses, and participants' relation with work was administered to a sample of Italian tractor operators (n = 286). Results: A mediated model showed that worked hours increase unsafe behaviors, whereas work experience decreases them. Unsafe behaviors in turn show a positive association with accidents, via the mediation of near misses. Conclusions: We gave a novel contribution to the knowledge of the chain of events leading to fall accidents in the agricultural sector, which is one of the most hazardous industries. Applications: Besides tractor design improvements, preventive training interventions may focus on the redesign of the actual working strategies and the adoption of engaging training methods in the use of machinery to optimize the learning of safety practices and safe behavior

A method to evaluate the perceived ease of use of human-machine interface in agricultural tractors equipped with Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)

At the end of the 20th century the adoption of the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) was one of the disruptive technological advances in agricultural tractors. Several changes in the Human Machine Interface (HMI) of the tractor cab have been introduced to accommodate this technology. HMIs are known to raise issues about their ease of use; however, this topic has been under-investigated in the agricultural sector. The present study introduces a method to investigate the perceived ease of use of the HMI of agricultural tractors equipped with technological innovations. The HMI required to manage a CVT tractor was evaluated by sixteen tractor drivers (8 novices and 8 experts). During the first contact with the machine and after having performed two targeted tasks with the tractor, participants filled in a questionnaire about the ease of use of the controls and of the touch-screen display, and evaluated the general perception of ease of use, safety, quality and solidity of the machine. The trial pointed out some significant differences between novices and experts, thus confirming the validity of the proposed method. In particular, novice users showed some difficulties when interacting for the first time with the HMI of the CVT tractor working station, whereas experts did not report similar difficulties. Thus, expertise seems to play a role in determining the quality of the interaction with the HMI. Training interventions should be designed to help novices in increasing their expertise effectively, avoiding effort and errors and improving user’s comfort and system performance