Injuries associated with the farm harvest in Canada

For farm injuries resulting in death or admission to hospital, we defined "harvestrelated injuries" as those involving the most common agents of acute traumatic injury associated with the harvest (i.e., tractors, power take-offs, balers, combines and harvesters, grain augers, conveyers and elevators, and farm wagons) and occurring in the months of July to November inclusive. From the data provided in the registries, we could not identify all injuries related to harvest tasks, so we had to limit our analysis to injuries caused by certain types of farm machinery. Because of differences in coding for the different registries, a slightly different definition was used for outpatient cases: all injuries resulting from agricultural activities between July and November. Most (106 [61.6%]) of the 172 fatal injuries and most (568 [70.6%]) of the 804 injuries resulting in admission to hospital involved individuals of working age (15 to 64 years of age; Table 1). Adults 65 years of age or older accounted for an important proportion of fatal injuries (52/172 [30.2%]). Most fatalities were associated with tractor operation (140/172 [81.4%]). The machinery most commonly involved in injuries leading to admission to hospital were tractors (332/804 [41.3%]), combines and harvesters (129/804 [16.0%]) and grain augers (78/804 [9.7%]). Admissions to hospital Hartling L, Pickett W, Brison RJ. Non-tractor, agricultural machinery injuries in Ontario. Can J Public Health 1997;88:32-5. Myers JR, Hard DL. Work-related fatalities in the agricultural production and services sectors, 1980-89. Am,%Indust Med 1995;27:51-63. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. Fatal farm injuries in Canada, 1991-199S. Kingston (ON): Queen's University; 1997.