Farm work practices and farm injuries in Colorado

Study objectives: To describe the farm work patterns and the relationship between hours spent working on specific farm tasks and task specific work related injuries among women and men. Design: A cross sectional survey of farm operators and their spouses in an eight county area of Colorado was conducted. Personal interviews were conducted between 1993 and 1997. Interviews took between 45 minutes to two hours to complete, depending on the complexity of individuals' personal histories. Farms were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Setting: Eight counties in Northeastern Colorado representing 47% of agricultural production in the state. Participants: A total of 301 women and 459 men who were farm residents and involved in farm work were recruited. Outcome measure: Self reported injuries resulting in medical attention or treatment other than first aid, or inability to do normal work activities, or loss of consciousness, or transfer to another job were assessed in relationship to the specific job task being performed at the time of the injury. Results: Women were at higher risk for injury than men when involved with other farm chores (rate ratio 8.18). For all other task related injuries, men and women were at similar risk when compared using hours of exposure to the farm tasks. Conclusion: Farm safety training and injury prevention programs need to include women working on farms.