Machine-related farm injuries in Turkey

Traumas connected with agricultural production can result in serious injuries and mortality. The objective of the study was to describe the characteristics of agricultural machines related work injury cases admitted to the Emergency Department, and to asses factors related to injury severity and hospital admission in the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey. All the cases presented related to injuries caused by work with agricultural machines between January 2006-November 2007 were included in the study. Information was collected concerning the demographic structures of the patients. Injury sites, injury types, and clinical features were recorded. Initial injury severity scores of all the cases were diagnosed at hospital admission. 91.9 percent of the cases were male. Mean age was 35.8 +- 17.0. The most common machine causing injuries was a tractor with 46 percent of cases, and all of these were fall traumas. 18.9 percent of the cases was considered as slight injury, 43.2 percent as moderate, and 37.9 percent as severe. Two male cases resulted in fatality. Our findings suggest that tractors are the most dangerous agricultural machines, and falls from tractors as the most common injury mechanism among machine-related injuries, especially for young people. In the rural areas of our country, Turkey, agricultural machines cause serious injuries that require hospitalization.