Non-Fatal Work-Related Farm Injuries Occurring to Michigan Adults and Youths

ABSTRACT

Farming is one of the top industries in Michigan and has the highest fatality rate. National sources of non-fatal farm injuries underestimate the burden, especially among children. In this paper, we provide a more accurate estimate of non-fatal farm injuries in Michigan by using an ongoing multi-source surveillance system. Michigan’s farm-injury surveillance system includes abstractions of hospital-based medical records, poison control center calls, ambulance runs, and workers’ compensation claims for individuals with a farm-related injury. For this analysis, injury onset occurred in 2015 to 2021 and included all injuries regardless of age or occupation. We identified 4,306 injuries in adults and 336 injuries in youth. For those 0–13 years of age all but two were family members. For those 14–15 and 16–17 years of age, 19% and 45%, respectively were hired hands. For adults, 51% were owner/operators, 43% were hired hands, and 5% were family members. For all ages, the most frequent injury source was cattle. Lacerations/cuts/punctures were the most common type of injury for those < 14 years of age while for older individuals it was contusions/bruises. The plurality of injuries occurred in the summer months. Children working on a farm are in unique situation and tracking injuries and identifying injury sources provide necessary information to protect their health and well-being. Michigan’s farm-injury surveillance system will continue to provide a comprehensive count of work-related injuries among Michigan’s farming population. The information is used to direct public health intervention both at the individual and population level.

KEYWORDS:

• Agriculture
• surveillance
• farm injury
• youth
• work-related

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Hailey TenHarmsel and James Hosner for this assistance in data collection and cleaning.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2023.2281530

Additional information

Funding

This publication was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Cooperative Agreement U60 OH 008466 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, grant number 2018-41590-28722. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.