Analysis of injuries and causes of death in fatal farm-related incidents in Lower Silesia, Poland
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2015, Vol 22, Issue 2
Abstract
Introduction. Workers in the agriculture sector are among the groups at the highest risk of fatal occupational injuries. The aim of study is to show the most common causes of farm-related deaths in Poland, with the circumstances, injuries sustained and mechanisms of death. Materials and methods. There were 109 (90.8%) males aged 19–81 and 11 females aged 19–73. 18.3% were over 60 years of age. There were 6 children (boys) aged between 2–6. A retrospective review was undertaken of 16,140 medico-legal autopsy reports by the Department of Forensic Medicine in Wroclaw between 1991–2011, which included 120 fatal farm-related incidents. The study protocol included gender, age, date and cause of death, all injuries found, circumstances and mechanism of death, place of death and blood alcohol concentration. Results. The most common (33/120; 27.5%) causes of death, both in men and women, were traffic accidents, the second being hit, crushed or buried by materials and falling objects. The most common injury was multi-organ damage (27/120; 22.5%), less common were cranio-cerebral injury (17/120; 14.2%) and thoracic blunt trauma (11/120; 9.2%). In multi-organ and thoracic traumas the mechanism of death was almost always exsanguinations. 85.3% of victims died at the place found. 37.2% of victims were drunk. Conclusion. In Poland, fatal injuries occurring in agriculture are mostly related to the misuse of transport and machinery. The main efforts to prevent accidents are engineering improvements, use of personal protective equipment, alcohol intake prevention and appropriate education of the workforce. Special prevention programmes should take gender and age differences into account.
Authors and Affiliations
Marta Rorat, Agata Thannhauser, Tomasz Jurek
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP80957
- DOI -
- Views 139
- Downloads 0
Modelling of agricultural combination driver behaviour from the aspect of safety of movement
Statistics show that the travel of agricultural machinery to a work area and their movement during labour is the source of many serious accidents. The most dangerous in consequences prove to be those that occur during tr...
Drinking of chokeberry juice from the ecological farm Dzieciolowo and distensibility of brachial artery in men with mild hypercholesterolemia.
The aim of the study was to estimate the influence of drinking chokeberry juice on the endothelial function in men with mild hypercholesterolemia. It was shown that chronic treatment with flavonoids improves vascular fun...
Thirty years of evolution of oral health behaviours and dental caries in urban and rural areas in Poland
[b]Introduction and objective[/b]. 34 years ago, children living in rural areas had almost 2 more teeth affected by decay than those living in cities. Environmental differences are being reduced along with Poland’s civil...
Socio-economic conditionings of families with children treated due to scoliosis in Eastern Poland
Introduction and objective: Scoliosis is a serious clinical problem which requires a systematic physical therapy and control of body balance – treatment from the moment of achieving skeletal maturity by a child. In the s...
Exposure to ticks and seroprevalence of [i]Borrelia burgdorferi [/i]among a healthy young population living in the area of southern Podlasie, Poland
[b]Objectives[/b]. The objective of the study was assessment of risk of infection with [i]Borrelia burgdorferi[/i] in the area of southern Podlasie in Poland, near the border with Belarus, by analysis of post-exposure pr...