Surveillance of Farm Workplace Deaths and Injuries

John Shutske, Professor
Michele Schermann, Research Fellow
George Wahl, Minnesota Department of Health

Funding Source

Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station

Objective

Examine characteristics of agricultural workplace injuries and deaths for developing appropriate intervention and control strategies.

Need or Impact

This surveillance helps us bring important prevention information to the attention of Minnesota residents so that they will be aware of potential dangers in the farm work environment. In Minnesota, we typically see between 20 to 25 farm workplace deaths per year. This number is down from 40+ in the 1990s, but at a national level, agriculture still ranks as the country’s second most dangerous industry. This surveillance work helps guide the direction and specific strategies of our Extension program in agricultural workplace safety.

Project Status

Ongoing.