USDA releases two reports on farm safety stats

USDA releases two reports on farm safety stats

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released two reports on farm safety -  “Agricultural Safety: 2009 Injuries to Adults on Farms” and “2011 Farm and Ranch Safety Survey”.

One of the reports found that in 2009 there were 42,000 injuries (work-related) on U.S. farms. Injuries are down 41 per cent compared to 2004. The following are some key findings from the reports:

• 69 percent of those injured were men.
• Tractors are the leading cause of fatalities in agriculture.
• 84 percent of all work-related farm injuries occurred to adults who were part of a family farm, compared to hired workers.
• Animals represented 21 percent of the injuries.
• 78 percent of the animal-related injuries were with horses or cattle.
• Other farm-related injuries predominantly included all-terrain vehicles and storage facilities.
• The average age was 52.2 years, which is up from 47.8 years reported in 2001.