Work-related injuries and diseases of farmers in Korea

It is very difficult to understand the current status of work-related injuries and diseases in farmers comprehensively. However, various work-related injuries and diseases in Korean farmers are thought to occur, including injuries by farming machinery and tools, pesticide poisoning, peasant syndrome, vinyl house disease, respiratory diseases, infectious and skin diseases. Particularly zoonoses including brucellosis, tsutsugamushi disease tend to increase, and musculoskeletal problems by awkward posture, repetition, and long duration work are on the rise. Moreover Korean farmers themselves do not pay much attention to these problems and farmers are not considered a priority by health care facilities either since the number of people involved in farming has declined and have been old aged dramatically in recent years. Yet at the national level, many efforts and concerns for improving agricultural safety and health have recently been made and these issues have become a major focus of research in Korea. This paper was prepared to elucidate the current status of the work-related injuries and diseases of Korean farmers and to provide basic data for future studies.