Telling Tales: Using Vignettes to Overcome Optimism Bias in Farm Health and Safety Attitudinal Studies

Figures & data

Figure 1. The research design.

Figure 2. Content analysis of short farm workplace fatalities descriptions.

Table 1. Evaluation and sampling vignettes.

Primary vignettes/scenario	Theme (sub-theme) applied	Changed applied (two workshops)	Final outcome
1. Sean is going to treat a recently calved cow, As he is about to start, he realizes that the gate separating the cow from himself is not secure. However, as he is in rush to get the job done, he decides to give the cow the treatment anyway.	Theme 2 Sub-themes 2–1, and 2–2	Highlight a common animal handling task (moving animals into a pen). Making story shorter and applicable to almost all livestock farmers Making the story natural by removing: “jumping over the gate” “unsecure gate”. “get the job done”, “in rush”	Vignette 2
2. Sean is a cattle farmer with a suckler herd and a bull. The weather has been bad with heavy rainfall and the herd is heavily poaching the land. The bull is agitated without a nose ring and chain. So Sean decides to move the herd indoors	Theme 2 Sub-themes 2–1, 2–2, and 2–3	The scenario is not a reflection of typical or common practices on livestock farms in Ireland. The use of a “bull” and “nose ring” makes the story less relevant to dairy farmers who commonly use artificial insemination, i.e. they do not keep bulls. The expert group recommended: A story that was applicable to all livestock farmers (e.g. dairy and beef farmers). A story that highlighted the practice of working alone when handling livestock as this is considered a contributory risk factor.	Not selected (some) information used in Vignette 6
3. Sean is trying to load animals into a truck and send them to the factory. As he is in a rush to get the cattle loaded, he decides to move all the animals without setting up the yard properly and getting help even though he knows some animals are aggressive	Theme 2 Sub-themes 2–2, and 2–3	The expert group recommended: Making the story shorter Changing the focus from a location, i.e. ‘farm yard, to the practice of handling cattle. focusing on “unsecured gate” Replacing “cattle” with “animal” Replacing “truck” with “trailer” to be more applicable to all farmers Removing “in rush” to make the story neutral Removing “aggressive” to make the scenario neutral	Vignette 5
4. Sean is trying to move a trapped bullock out of a drain. He does not have equipment (loader and hoist etc.). While time is tight, he decides to get all equipment first and then move the trapped animal even if he has to delay other tasks.	Theme 3 Sub-themes 2–2, and 2–3	The expert group recommended the removal of this story as many farms would not keep bullocks In addition, they concluded that there was overlap in some aspects (lack of animal handling facilitates) with other livestock-related vignettes	Not selected
5. Sean is going to start a tractor from the ground by crossing the solenoid because it will not start on the key. The tractor starts and then the tractor runs away as it was in gear. He tries to stop the tractor by jumping onto the tractor and knocking it out of gear. He finally stops the tractor.	Theme 1 Sub-themes 1–1, 1–2, and 1–4)	The expert group recommended the removal of this story as the story focuses on “crossing the solenoid”. The group recommended a simpler framing, i.e. highlighting a faulty ignition and “roll starting” the tractor.	Not selected Information used in vignette 3
6. Sean has to move a trailer to an out farm and bring back a slurry spreader. The hand break on the tractor is not working properly so he brings a block of timber to wedge behind one of the front wheels when he is unhitching the trailer.	Theme 1 Sub-themes 1–1 and 1–2	The expert group recommended the removal of this story as it does not depict a frequent scenario	Information used in Vignette 1
7. Sean is trying to get the silage bales in and his children are hanging around the farmyard. To make sure they are safe he takes them with him in the cab.	Theme 1 Sub-themes 1–4	The expert group recommended the removal of this story, as there was no agreement on whether the practice constitutes good or bad safety practice. The point was made that, in the absence of an alternative, e.g. childcare; this may be the only option available to a farmer. The panel also noted that this story was not closely linked to the “tractor-related ”sub-themes.	Not selected
8. Sean is working with a baler hooked up to a tractor. The machine suddenly stopped working due to a blockage. He jumped off the tractor while the power shaft is still turned on. He decides to clear the blockage by kicking the blocked straw with his foot.	Theme 1 (others)	The expert group recommended the removal of this story as it is not applicable to many farmers. The panel also noted that this story was not closely linked to the “tractor-related” sub-themes.	Not selected
9. Sean detects a problem with a farm machine and decides to fix it. He is standing close to the unguarded PTO shaft and steps close to the rotating unguarded PTO shaft. This pulls a string of his clothes but Sean pulls away and escapes entanglement.	Theme 1 (entanglement)	The expert group recommended the removal of this story as: The number of injury and deaths associated with PTO shaft has substantially decreased over recent years. The story was not applicable to all farms. Many farmers are using PTO shaft covers/shields, which makes the story irrelevant.	Not selected
10. Sean is going to move a tractor out of a shed. The tractor does not have mirrors. Before reversing the tractor, he decides to make sure all family members and workers are safely outside the danger zone. Though he is in rush he takes time to make sure nobody is in the way.	Theme 1 Sub-theme 1.3	The expert group recommended the story be modified to: Make it shorter Focus on “a lack of or improper observation” rather than the absence of “mirrors”. Highlight “long hours of work rather than” taking time to make sure the area is clear’	Vignette 4
11. Sean is driving a tractor in the farmyard while children are playing around. He needs to do job with the tractor close to where the children are playing. As he has to get the job done quickly, he starts the job without taking the time to move the children inside or to a safe location.	Theme 1 Sub-theme 1.3	The expert group recommended the removal of this story, as there was no agreement on whether the practice constitutes good or bad safety practice. The point was made that, in the absence of an alternative, e.g. childcare; this may be the only option available to a farmer.	Not selected

Table 2. The profile of farmers surveyed in the current and previous studies.

Variables	Enterprise/type of farm	n	%	Age	n	%
Total population of farmers (N = 135,037)^Citation45	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy and mix^Citation1 farming	74,159 255,86	54.9 18.9	<35 35–44 45–54 55–64 65≤	1,138 18,701 29,616 33,247 44,135	7 14 22 24 33
The current study (n = 381)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy and mix farming	210 99	55.1 26	<35 35–44 45–54 55–64 65≤	33 69 88 91 100	9 18 23 24 26
McNamara and Reidy (1997) (n = 926)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy mix farming	497 198	53.7 21.4	N/A	-	-
GL Noble Denton Report (2014) (n = 787)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy mix farming	210 79	57 29	<35 35–44 45–54 55–64 65≤	55 165 205 197 157	7 21 26 25 20
Fox (2014) (n = 426)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy mix farming	842 80	80.3 18.2	N/A	-	-
Brennan (n = 48)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy mix farming	22 11	45.8 23	<35 35–44 45–54 55–64 65≤	6 13 14 10 5	12.5 27.1 29.2 20.8 10.4
McNamara et al., 2017 (n = 94)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy mix farming	36 65	38.3 61.7	<45 45–55 55>	40 30 24	43 32 25.5
McNamara (2014) (n = 915)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy mix farming	491 187	53.6 20.4	N/A	-	-
Woods et al., 2021 (n = 387)	Beef farming/dry stock Dairy mix farming	322 65	83.2 16.8	<35 35–44 45–54 55–64 65≤	74 79 97 97 37	19.1 20.4 25.1 25.1 9.6

¹Mix dairy and cattle/tillage farming.

Table 3. Comparison of the level of FHS attitude in the current study with previous Irish studies-.

Studies	Attitude question (scale)	Pre-transformation score	Standardized score^2 Low (negative) (0) – High (positive) (100) ±SD	Independent-Sample Kruskal-Wallis Test
Current study (n = 381)
Vignette 1. Farmer O’Brien is feeding cattle. O’Brien gets to the feed face and hops out of the tractor/loader to open the feed barrier without applying the handbrake. The ground is roughly level.	1. It is not always necessary to use the handbrake^Citation1 (reversed scale) (Completely disagree (1) to Completely agree (5)).	2.75 ± 1.2	43.75^a ± 17.8	43.38**
Vignette 2. A cow with her newborn calf are in a pen without a calving gate. Farmer Taylor needs to care for the calf. Rather than move the cow and calf to a pen with a head gate Taylor enters the pen and proceeds to care for the calf. The cow attacks and Taylor escapes by jumping over the gate.	2. Being in the same pen with a recently calved cow is fine once you know that she is quite (Completely disagree (1) to Completely agree (5)).	2.8 ± 1.3	46^a ± 18.3
Vignette 3. The ignition on the tractor is not working so Farmer Walsh parks the tractor on a slope so they can roll start it later.	3a. You think it is important to get the ignition fixed immediately if there is a fault (Completely disagree (1) to Completely agree (5)).	3.04 ± 0.92	51.2^a ± 13.2
	3b. It is more important to get the job done than fixing the ignition immediately (Completely disagree (1) to Completely agree (5)).	3 ± 1.1	50^a ± 17.4
Vignette 4. A farmer has spent a few hours unloading bales and moving them into a shed. They are almost finished and reverse out of the shed without fully checking behind them.	4. It is important to check behind you when you are reversing your tractor (Completely disagree (1) to Completely agree (5)).	3.17 ± 0.96	54.3^a ± 15.3
Vignette 5. Using unsecured gates, e.g. tied together with twine and rope, a farmer builds a temporary chute to load cattle into a trailer. There is one animal in the group that is very difficult to manage.	5. In your opinion, making sure the gates are securely fixed is not important as it takes too much time^Citation1 (Completely disagree (1) to Completely agree (5)).	2.7 ± 0.86	42.5^a ± 11.5
Vignette 6. A farmer is working alone moving a group of cattle from an out-farm where there are no animal handling facilities.	6. In your opinion, getting help to load animals is not necessary (reversed scale) (Completely disagree (1) to Completely agree (5)).	2.66 ± 0.87	41.7^a ± 11.7
McNamara and Reidy (1997) (n = 926)	Farm safety is a minor aspect of farm management^Citation1 (Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (5).	4.04 ± 0.53	76^b ± 8.3
GL Noble Denton Report (2014) (n = 787)	In general, working in a safe way is 1. Bad (1)-good (7) 2. Of little use (1) – useful (7) 3. Unpleasant (1) – pleasant (7) 4. Of little benefit (1)- beneficial(7)	6.59 ± 0.34 6.43 ± 0.37 6.38 ± 0.35 6.13 ± 0.46	93.3^b ± 5.7 90.6^b ± 6.3 89.8^b ± 6.1 85.5^b ± 7.8
Fox (2014) (n = 426)	FHS is an important issue on your farm (Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (5).	4.95±.04	98.8^b ± 1.1
Brennan (2015) (n = 48)	Personal attitude to farm safety (Low (1) to High (3)).	2.9 ± 0.09	95^b ± 4.7
McNamara et al., 2017 (n = 94)	Farmer attitude to Occupational Health and Safety in general (Unsatisfactory (1) to Satisfactory (4)).	3.31 ± 0.32	77^b ± 5.3
McNamara (2014) (n = 915)	Safety management is an important issue (Unsatisfactory (1) to Satisfactory (4))	3.85 ± 0.11	95^b ± 2.1
Woods et al., 2021 (n = 387)	How important is farm safety to you? (Not important at all (1) to Very Important (5)	4.42 ± 0.86	85.5^b ± 10.5

¹Reversed scale was applied for negatively stated questions.

^2aVignette-based attitudes reported at the same level (P-value of pair-ways comparison not significant) in the current study.

^2bFHS attitude reported at same level by previous Irish studies (P-value of pairwise comparison not significant).

^2cThe pairwise comparisons were statistically significant between attitude reported in the current study (a) and farm health and safety attitude reported by previous Irish study (b).

**Asymptotic significant level (2-sided test) <0.01.

Figure 3. The level of FHS attitude reported by current and previous Irish studies.

Central Statistics Office. Census of Agriculture 2020 – Preliminary Results. Dublin, Ireland: Central Statistics Office; 2020.

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Mohammadrezaei M, Meredith D, McNamara J. Subjective norms influence advisors’ reluctance to discuss farm health and safety. J Agric Educ Extension. 2022;29(5):1–25. doi: 10.1080/1389224X.2022.2125410.

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