Astrid C. Newenhouse

Musculoskeletal discomfort, injuries, and tasks accomplished by children and adolescents in Wisconsin fresh market vegetable production

Little or no research is available about the tasks that children and adolescents perform in small scale, fresh market vegetable production. A mail questionnaire was administered in an exploratory study to an age-stratified, convenience sample of children and adolescents age 5 to 18 (n = 81) who were working on Wisconsin fresh market vegetable operations. Children and adolescents reported averaging 349 hours of farm work last year. Youths completed over 1/5 of all the tractor operation and produce loading and unloading that was completed by adults or children on their farms; 1/7 of the weeding, produce washing, and packing; and 1/12 of the hand harvesting during typical weeks when they worked. Fifty percent of 15-18 year olds reported experiencing low back discomfort in the last year, and 25% reported disabling discomfort. Children and adolescents performed the same range of tasks and often the same scope of work as adults. Further investigation with larger, more representative youth samples is needed to confirm these findings.

Barriers to the adoption of ergonomic innovations to control musculoskeletal disorders and improve performance

Despite a growing number of published articles describing studies of ergonomic interventions, little is known about the barriers potential adopters face when deciding whether or not to adopt such innovations. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers identified by potential adopters of ergonomic innovations and compare barriers identified by individuals not interested in adopting to those identified by individuals planning to adopt. Eight hundred forty-eight fresh market vegetable farmers were mailed surveys measuring the adoption of and barriers to the adoption of several ergonomic innovations as part of a multi-year intervention study. Barriers such as cost, lack of information, never having seen the innovation used and not being able to try out the innovation were among the barriers identified. The barriers identified were moderated by whether or not the respondents were likely to adopt. Implications for diffusing ergonomic and safety innovations are discussed.

Evaluation of a four year intervention to reduce musculoskeletal hazards among berry growers

PROBLEM Fresh market berry production workers are exposed to physical risk factors for musculoskeletal injury. METHOD We disseminated information through trade publications and other sources to berry managers in seven U.S. states about five prevention through design practices that were both safer and more profitable than traditional methods. We administered mail evaluation questionnaires prior to the intervention and after each of four intervention years to rolling, independent U.S. samples and to comparison New Zealand berry farm manager samples after years one through three. RESULTS U.S. manager self-reports of reading trade publication information increased compared to baseline values for two of five practices and self-reported awareness increased for four of five practices. There were no increases in adoption. More U.S. than New Zealand managers reported getting information about two practices from trade publications and about four practices from public events. No U.S. versus New Zealand differences were observed in reported awareness or adoption for any practice. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY This study showed that even a modest campaign can build awareness of safer practices fairly quickly in three to four years among small agricultural firms but that increasing adoption apparently requires more time. Widespread adoption of safer practices could help keep operators in business longer as they age by reducing the workload and musculoskeletal strain associated with labor intensive crop production for them and their workforce. Adoption of practices that also improve profits, like the five practices featured in this study, could also help managers stay in business.

Work exposures, injuries, and musculoskeletal discomfort among children and adolescents in dairy farming.

ABSTRACT Little research is available about the specifics of child or adolescent work on dairy farm operations. The objective of this study was to investigate work performed by children and adolescents on these operations. The authors administered mail questionnaires to a community-based, age- and operation size-stratified sample of individuals aged 6 to 18 (n = 240) who worked on dairy operations in Wisconsin. Data were collected in 1999. The 197 children and adolescents reported averaging 567 hours of dairy farm work in the last year (10.9 hours/week) and completed over 1/3 of all calf feeding, 1/5 of the milking, 1/5 of cow feeding, and 1/10 of tractor operation hours on their farm during the weeks they worked. Some of these young workers reported accomplishing duties also judged by some experts as hazardous work, including nearly half of the 9- to 11-year-olds driving tractors. Six nonfatal injuries were reported that required stopping work (14.6 per 100 full time equivalents per year), including those that required medical attention. Musculoskeletal discomfort and disability reports were unremarkable compared to existing studies of general and working populations. Wisconsin dairy farm youth appeared to be working no more hours per week than their peers in other studies of agricultural populations. Adolescents and some children largely performed the same range of tasks and often the same scope of work as adults, including some performing hazardous work. There is a need for further investigations with larger samples of dairy youth to confirm these findings. The exposures of very young workers to hazardous tractor driving and tower silo tasks suggest that there is an urgent need for improved and validated interventions to reduce these exposures.

Evaluation of a 3 year intervention to increase adoption of safer nursery crop production practices

BACKGROUND We conducted a 3year intervention to increase awareness and adoption of eight more profitable nursery crop production practices that reduced certain traumatic and musculoskeletal injury hazards. METHODS We disseminated information to nursery managers across seven states using information channels they were known to rely on (e.g. trade publications, public events, university Extension, other managers). We evaluated rolling, independent, probability samples (n=1200) with mail questionnaires before the intervention and after each of 3 intervention years. We also evaluated samples (n=250) from a comparison group of New Zealand nursery managers. RESULTS The intervention was associated with increased awareness of four of the eight practices among US managers after year 3 compared to their baseline: zippers (20 vs. 32%, p<or=0.000), stools (11 vs. 22%, p<or=0.001), pruners (29 vs. 40%, p<or=0.014), and tarps (24 vs. 33%, p<or=0.009). There were no changes in adoption. New Zealand manager awareness was increased for hoes after year 2 compared to their baseline (35 vs. 52%, p<or=0.010). CONCLUSIONS A modest, regionwide information dissemination intervention was associated with increased awareness, but not adoption.

The Use and Value of Information Systems as Evaluated by Dairy and Specialty Crop Farm Managers

ABSTRACT Little recent research is available about where specific types of farm managers search for information about better production practices. The objective of this study was to investigate what information sources managers used and how they rated the usefulness of each source. The authors administered mail questionnaires to probability samples from sampling frames they developed for four groups: dairy and fresh market vegetable producers from Wisconsin and berry and nursery producers from a multistate region. Questionnaire items asked operation managers to check off, from a list of information sources, those that they used in the last year to learn about new equipment or procedures to improve their operations and then to rate the usefulness of each source. In the last year, nursery, dairy, and berry managers most often used information from print media (63% to 84%), followed by other farmers (50% to 80%). Fresh market vegetable growers used conferences (60%) most often, followed by print media (41%). The information source rated most useful was “other farmers” for the nursery, dairy, and fresh market vegetable managers. Nursery and fresh market vegetable managers rated conferences as second most useful, whereas dairy managers rated print media second. Berry managers were not asked about usefulness. Farm manager information behavior exhibits some common features but is also specific to their operation type. Research and outreach efforts intending to communicate information to farm managers may be able to be more efficient at reaching and persuading their intended audience if they first investigate manager information behavior.