By all accounts, farming is one of the world's most dangerous occupations. But it's especially dangerous for senior agriculturalists.
Older farmers and farm workers are nearly twice as likely to die in farm accidents as farmers overall, according to a 2008 report from the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
Older agriculturalists - defined in the report as 55 and older - had a fatality rate of 45.8 deaths per 100,000 workers per year, compared with the overall farming fatality rate of 25.4 death per 100,000 workers per year.
Tractors accounted for 46 percent of the fatalities, trucks 7 percent and animals 5 percent, according to the report.
Older farmers often handle jobs, such as mowing ditches, that involve small, aging tractors without rollover protection structures, or ROPS. Tractor rollovers are the biggest source of agricultural fatalities, so the lack of ROPS puts older farmers at greater risk, experts say.
ADVERTISEMENT
Other age-related challenges, including hearing loss, arthritis and prescription medications, also contribute to older farmers' greater risk.
Here are three web sites that offer practical safety advice for senior farmers.
- www.agrability.org (The National AgriAbility Project seeks to help farmers with disabilities and impairments, including age-related ones.)
- agsafety.tamu.edu/files/2011/06/SAFETY-FOR-SENIOR-FARMERS3.pdf (Texas AgriLife Extension Service.)
- web.extension.illinois.edu/agsafety/factsheets/srfarm.cfm. (University of Illinois Extension.)
.....................
To read about a farmer turning 100, click here .
To read about talking to talking to older agriculturalists about safety, click here .
ADVERTISEMENT
To read about other older farmers and ranchers in Agweek Country, click here .
