Agriculture - The Occupational Hazards

AUTHOR ABSTRACT

People employed within the agricultural industry are exposed to a wide variety of occupational hazards. Despite a declining level of manpower in the industry due to an increase in mechanization this has brought with it its own special problems relating to accidents. Increased technology in the field of pesticide control have brought problems of systemic chemical poisoning, whilst infectious and non-infectious diseases also present other sources of hazards to agricultural workers.

Evidence from various sources would suggest that some accidents are not chance happenings, but as in many other industrial accidents are due to a failure to observe regulations and codes of good practice. Prevention therefore is of major importance in the agricultural industry, as in other industries. Prevention is now a function of the Health and Safety Executive through its Agricultural Safety Inspectorate, and whilst legal powers are available to the Inspectorate, clearly education and persuasion are preferred. It is now common practice in many counties to have "Joint Farm Safety Committees" comprising not only employers represented through the National Farmers' Union, but the employees represented through the National Association of Agricultural and Allied Workers as well as representatives of the Agricultural Safety Inspectorate. Through these joint committees preventive programmes can be arranged aimed at specific accident problems or accident prevention in general. Such joint co-operation can and does go a long way to reducing the problem of agricultural industries, disease and hazards through education, but as with all accident prevention it is the individual who must exercise care and responsibility.

JOURNAL AND NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE ID#

JOURNAL: Public Health. 1981; 95(1): 15-27.

Note: Public Health.

NLOM ID#: 81151575 .

Publication #: 81151575

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