Potential exposure to hazardous work activities: tractor usage among farmwomen

Farmwomen are often an unacknowledged workforce, leading to a lack of targeted safety interventions. This study examined the involvement and work patterns of 665 women in Texas and 657 women in Louisiana who were 18 years old and older and whose family participated in farming operations. Surveys were used to gather specific data regarding tractor work patterns, tractor knowledge, sources of information about tractors, and demographic information in two southern states in which cattle and dairy were the major agricultural commodity. Among the sample of 1,322 women, 577 (43.6%) reported driving tractors at least one day a year. This subset was used to describe characteristics of tractors and tractor-related activities. Findings indicate that women learn to drive tractors in their 20s, use husbands as the primary source of their information about tractors, engage in a wide variety of farm activities including bush-hogging and plowing, and acknowledge knowing an average or less than an average amount about driving tractors. Women most often reported driving between 1 to 12 days/year (n = 321, 55.6%). When examining patterns of ROPS-equipped tractor use, women were 1.47 times more likely to drive a tractor without ROPS or enclosed when driving less than 12 days a year as opposed to 13-103 days/year or greater than 104 days/year. The results of this study support the need for health care professionals and safety specialists to design appropriate interventions that target women to become more knowledgeable regarding the injury risks associated with farm work while driving tractors.