FACTS

1. The most common causes of death in agriculture are:

• transport – being struck by moving vehicles
• being struck by a moving or falling object, eg bales, trees etc
• falls from height
• asphyxiation or drowning
• contact with machinery
• injury by an animal
• being trapped by something collapsing or overturning
• contact with electricity, nearly two-thirds of which involves overhead power lines (OHPLs).

2. The most common causes of non-fatal injuries in:

• slip, trip or fall on the same level
• falls from height
• contact with machinery
• being injured by an animal.
• being struck by moving, including flying or falling, objects

3. Farmers and farm workers suffer from increased rates of respiratory diseases, noise-induced hearing loss, skin disorders, certain cancers, chemical toxicity, and heat-related illnesses.

STATS

Who’s at Risk?

• Approximately 2,112,626 full-time workers were employed in production agriculture in the US in 2019.
• Approximately 1.4 to 2.1 million hired crop workers are employed annually on crop farms in the US.
• An estimated 893,000 youth under 20 years of age resided on farms, with about 454,000 youth performing farm work.

Fatalities

• In 2019, 410 farmers and farm workers died from a work-related injury, resulting in a fatality rate of 19.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. Transportation incidents, which include tractor overturns were the leading cause of death for these farmers and farm workers.
• The most effective way to prevent tractor overturn deaths is the use of a Roll-Overprotective Structure (ROPS) with a seatbelt. In 2014, 62% of tractors used on farms in the US were equipped with ROPS. If ROPS were placed on all tractors used on US farms manufactured since the mid-1960’s, the prevalence of ROPS-equipped tractors could be increased to over 80%.