Women in Agriculture: Risks for Occupational Injury within the Contexts of Role and Haddon’s Injury Model Carrie A. McCoy Northern Kentucky University Ann K. Carruth Southeastern Louisiana University Deborah B. Reed University of Kentucky

Introduction Exposure to injury-producing events in the context of gendered role and Haddon’s Injury Model According to Haddon, injuries do not occur by accident (Haddon, 1968).

Haddon, 1968 Haddon’s Injury Model was used as the framework for this paper. Prevent Event Post Event HostAgentEnvironment

Profile of Farm Women 23.1% of farm operators and managers and 19% of farm workers are female (Statistical Abstracts of U.S. 1998). Women operated 165,102 farms (8.6% of all farms) (USDA, 1999). –Over half list an occupation other than farming as their principal occupation.

Profile of Farm Women Older on average than male counterparts Operated smaller farms –43% less than 50 acres –68.5% had sales less than $10,000

Women’s Contributions to Agriculture Invisible Farmers –invisibility of farm women’s work –gendered division of labor on the farm More daughters are entering farming

Role Managers Taylor (1997) –41% husbands’ assistants –34% silent partners –22 hours working on farm Reed (1999) 46% homemakers engaged in farm work

Participation in Farm Tasks Conditioned by –individual self-identified role –self-efficacy Agricultural partners and producers more involved in farm tasks

Other Factors Affecting Participation in Farm Tasks Size of farm Farm Commodity Marital status Control of land Husband’s off farm work Education level Previous farming experience

Injury Risk in Context of Host, Agent, Environment Pre-event exposure to multitude of biologic, chemical, physical, and mechanical agents Uncontrolled transfer of energy during event phase is dependent on host, catalyst (agent) that produces outcome, and the environment.

Host Risks for Injury-Social Cultural Role identity Self-efficacy Perceived vulnerability to injury Knowledge and beliefs (Leckie,1996; Zeuli & Levins 1995)

Host Risk for Injury Physical Factors Age Physical stature Physical health status Use of medications Fatigue and stress May be more susceptible to some types of injuries –Falls (Carruth et.al., 2001; Nordstrom et al., 1996; McCoy, 2000) –Pronator syndrome (Stal, Hagert & Moritz, 1998)

Vehicle/Vectors of Injury Machinery –PTOs (MMWR, 1992; Roerig, 1993) –Design issues –Exposure (Carruth et al., 2001) Presence of large animals (Browning et al.; 1998; Carruth et al., 2001; McCoy 2000; Myers, et al., 1999; Steuland et al.; 1997)

Environmental Risks Physical environment –Risk of falls –Temperature extremes –Caring for animals Dairy farming - (Boyle et al., 1997; Nordstrom et al., 1995) Cultural environment –Cultural norms regarding division of labor –Economic pressures - third-shift phenomenon

Limitations Mostly descriptive in nature Studies have focused on the injury event Few studies have targeted women –Most limited to one geographic area –Definition of injury inconsistent across studies –Selection criteria different across studies –Many based on hospital data

Limitations Injury in the context of role has not been addressed Inconsistent injury rates compared to men Quantitative data with very little qualitative triangulation.

Recommendations Examine relationship between host, agent and environment Focus on the pre-event phase Examine roles and risk for occupational injury Ergonomics and musculoskeletal injury Improved links between quantitative and qualitative (narrative) data.

Acknowledgements National Institute for Nursing Research, National Research Service Award Cooperative agreement with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.