Robotics and Technologies for the Safety and Health of Farmers: A Scoping Review

Agriculture is widely acknowledged as a dangerous industry for workers. Agriculture workers are also older compared with other industries, which further increases the risks of occupational injuries. In recent years, a wide range of new technologies has come into use in the agriculture industry, so researchers need to consider how these technological advances can be used to improve occupational safety and health outcomes for agriculture workers.

This scoping review aims to summarize the current evidence for the use of robotics and autonomous technologies in improving occupational safety and health outcomes for agricultural workers.

A systematic literature search was performed on June 4 and 14, 2024, across the following databases - MEDLINE, Embase, IEEE, CAB Abstracts and Google Scholar. Two independent reviewers screened for eligibility in Covidence. Eligibility criteria included studies in the English language from 2015 onwards reporting on robotics or technologies for health and safety in agriculture. Literature reviews were excluded. The PRISMA Scoping Review statement guided the reporting.

The search resulted in 845 studies. Of the 26 included studies, 13 studied robots or automated machines, four studied exoskeletons, three studied wearable sensors, four investigated the use of artificial intelligence and five studied other autonomous technologies. Automated milking systems (AMS) were the most studied autonomous technology in the review, with three studies finding farmers perceive a reduction in physically demanding labor when using AMS, and another finding a correlation between using AMS and improved mental health. Most included papers focused on occupational safety and physical health.

Of the included studies, 12 were product development studies, meaning there is need for primary evidence studies (e.g. randomized trials, observational studies). There was also only one study that focused on mental health and improving accessibility for farmers with mobility impairments, so these are directions for future research.

The results of this review show that there is some evidence for the use of a variety of autonomous technologies in improving farmer health and safety, although more work is required, especially regarding mental health and farmers with mobility impairments.