FACTS
- People working in farm dairies are exposed to hazards involving machinery and moving parts, animals, slips, trips, falls, exoskeletal injuries, electrical and chemical hazards, and burns from hot water.
- Slips and trips are one of the most common accidents when working in and around farm dairies. Many farmers have slip-related accidents, which substantially reduces their capacity for work.
- Injuries to arms or wrists not only make it hard for the farmer to work, but put a heavier workload on other workers.
- Slips and trips often happen in the pit during milking, when handling cattle, getting cows in for milking, and during maintenance and cleaning.
- It is more likely that workers will slip or trip on slippery surfaces, poorly designed steps, divided attention, poor footwear, speed, obstacles and cluttered workspace.
STATS
- The dairy product manufacturing as a whole has nearly halved its TRC rate, falling from 9.4 injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers.
- The non-fatal injury rate among workers in dairy cattle and milk production was 5.6 injuries per 100 full-time workers and 14.6 illnesses per 100,000 full-time workers. The total injury and illness rate was 5.7 per 100 full-time workers, compared to the private industry average of 3.4. 15 Thirty-five workers in this industry died due to work-related incidents.
- Workers regularly exposed to cattle infected with tuberculosis have been shown to be at higher risk for contracting latent and active tuberculosis, as bovine tuberculosis can also infect humans. A study conducted in 2013 demonstrated that dairy workers had more than twice the risk of testing positive for tuberculosis as compared to non-dairy workers, and that over half of the 311 dairy workers tested positive for latent tuberculosis.
- Dairy workers with tasks in the milking parlor had more than five times risk of carpal tunnel syndrome as compared to dairy workers with non-milking tasks, indicating that occupational risks and exposures vary greatly in the dairy industry, even with the same establishment. © National Center for Farmworker Health.
- Musculoskeletal injuries are common among dairy parlor workers. A cross-sectional study of 452 dairy parlor workers found that 76% had at least one body part affected by an occupationally related musculoskeletal injury, most commonly in an upper extremity.