Project Tasks

1. Project Management
2. Risk perceptions and behavioural intention for health and safety among farmers
3. Risk perceptions and behavioural intention for health and safety among agriculture students in the development of professional knowledge
4. Comparative assessment of knowledge transfer (farm extension services) and regulatory systems governing OHS practices among selected European Countries
5. Quantifying the exposure to risk: an evaluation of the relationship between time spent working, farm accidents and fatalities
6. Learning from the DAFM Knowledge Transfer OHS initiative: An assessment of facilitator’s and farmer’s experiences and outcomes
7. Identification and Analysis of Behavioural Machinery-related Farm Safety Interventions
8. Adoption of safer work systems for handling livestock and managing facilities on farms,  and effecting change in farmer behavior
9. Participatory co-design of interventions to enhance farm safety
10. Dissemination

1. Project Management

Lead researcher: Dr David Meredith
Lead institution: Teagasc
Other institutions involved: UCG and UCD

Description: This task involves all of the administration and management activities required to ensure that the work programme as organised in Task 2 – Task 12 runs in a timely fashion and the reporting requirements are fulfilled within the specified time. The relationship between tasks is depicted in Figure 4. The tasks research tasks, 2 – 11 are organised into two high level goals for the project, Understanding Farmers, Tasks 2 – 6, and Initiating Change, Tasks 7 – 11. The blue lines indicate task integration, i.e. where the outputs from a task or set of tasks inform another.

2. Risk perceptions and behavioural intention for health and safety among farmers

Lead researchers: Dr. David Meredith, Dr Mohammad Mohammadrezaei 
Collaborators: Dr Denis O’Hora, Dr John McNamara
Lead institution: Teagasc
Other institutions involved: NUI Galway, Psychological Sciences Research Istitute, UC, Louvain, Belgium

Description: Farms are complex social–ecological systems and differ from most workplaces or work environments. Farming, as an occupation, is fundamentally different from most occupations by virtue of the range of tasks that farmers may have to undertake on any given day. These tasks are likely to vary in intensity, duration, location, physicality or use of machinery. This context presents substantial challenges to understanding and influencing farmer behaviour. Feola and Binder (2010, p.2323) concluded that an effective approach to research on farmers' behaviour is based on an explicit and well-motivated behavioural theory, an integrative approach and, understanding feedback processes and dynamics which shape behaviours and outcomes. Whilst this perspective underpins the entirety of the BeSafe project, this Task aims to develop an overarching conceptual framework to describe farmer OHS behaviours. In addition, the framework will guide the research undertaken in subsequent tasks, particularly Tasks 3 – 10. The framework will be applied to the development of a survey which seeks to improve our understanding of farmer’s OHS behaviours by describing the knowledge, attitudes, risk perceptions and behaviours of a nationally representative sample of farmers and evaluating those personal, environmental and social factors influencing these behaviours. The data will be analysed with the objective of identifying groups of farmers that may be particularly exposed to accidents. These findings will be of direct relevance to Tasks 8 – 10 and will be useful for a wide range of stakeholders.

3. Risk perceptions and behavioural intention for health and safety among agriculture students in the development of professional knowledge

Lead researcher: Dr Aoife Osborne, FBD Lecturer in Farm Health and Safety, UCD
Collaborators: Post-Doctoral Researcher (2), Dr Denis O’Hora, Dr John McNamara
Lead institution: UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science.
Other institutions involved: Teagasc, NUIG School of Psychology, FBD Insurance

Description: Health and safety is a major issue and significant challenge in agriculture. It is important to consider all at risk populations when undertaking research in this area. Recent research undertaken by Watson et al. (2017) indicated that younger farmers were more likely to take risks. The objective of this task is to monitor health and safety risk perceptions and behavioural intention among young farmers, i.e. agriculture students undergoing 3^rd level training in the development of professional knowledge.

Changing the perception of safety risks represents the predominant challenge to improving the farm safety and health record of the Agriculture sector (Hale & Glendon, 1987). Risk perception plays a key role in behaving safely at work. To date there has been no measurement of such perceptions amongst farmers in Ireland though Task 2 will undertake this assessment. While changing risk perceptions applies throughout the farming population, achieving it among new entrant farmers and future workers in the agriculture sector is particularly important if we are to achieve generational change, i.e. improvements over time.

4. Comparative assessment of knowledge transfer (farm extension services) and regulatory systems governing OHS practices among selected European Countries

Lead researcher: Dr John McNamara
Collaborators: Dr Mohammad Mohammadrezaei
Lead institution: Teagasc
Other institutions involved: LUKE - Natural Resources Institute Finland. Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bio economy (ATB), Germany.

Description: Though the EU Framework directive in OHS (89/391/EEC) applies to employed workers it does not include self-employed persons, e.g. farmers. As a consequence there is considerable variation in OHS regulatory systems pertaining to farm OHS throughout the EU. In part this reflects different approaches to governance and also the extent to which farm OSH is viewed as a societal issue. This task seeks to identify best practice with respect to the support and implementation of behaviour change initiatives through responsible agencies with a view to informing approaches developed in Tasks 8 – 11.

5. Quantifying the exposure to risk: an evaluation of the relationship between time spent working, farm accidents and fatalities

Lead researcher: Dr David Meredith
Collaborators: Dr Mohammad Mohammadrezaei, Mr Pat Griffin, Dr John McNamara
Lead institution: Teagasc
Other institutions involved: HSA

Description: Understanding accidents and fatalities

Analysis of Irish farm fatality data for the period 2008 – 2013 found that time of day and day of the week were significant in understanding when fatalities were likely to occur (Clinton, 2014). This research was limited by accurate information regarding the amount of time spent working, i.e. it was not possible to accurately assess the exposure to risk. This task seeks to firstly, update and extend the analysis of farm accidents and fatalities for the period 1993 – 2021 as this provide a window into the key risks faced by farmers and give clear pointers to areas of concern. This work will inform subsequent tasks, particularly, Task 8 and 10. Secondly, the research will undertake an analysis of National Farm Survey data to estimate the exposure to selected risks, e.g. trips and falls, machinery or animal related incidents.

6. Learning from the DAFM Knowledge Transfer OHS initiative: An assessment of facilitator’s and farmer’s experiences and outcomes

Lead researcher: Dr John McNamara
Collaborators: Dr Mohammad Mohammadrezaei
Lead institution: Teagasc

Description: Though there are limited studies published internationally concerning farmer OHS adoption, the extant research indicates that providing an incentive to support OHS adoption has achieved some success (e.g. Hallman, 2005). The proposed research seeks to learn from the DAFM incentive based KT programme in raising awareness and, more specifically, motivating farmer adoption of OHS initiatives. The DAFM KT OHS initiative is of considerable importance given that, internationally, it is one of the few large scale measures targeting farmer OSH that have been applied using KT approaches.In light of the need for the project to develop and pilot behaviour change initiatives that can be delivered using KT methods, it is vitally important that we understanding both facilitator’s and farmer’s experiences and responses to participation in the DAFM Knowledge Transfer programme related to farm health and safety. Roughly 20,000 farmers in 1200 groups participated in this scheme. Each farmer engaged in a Knowledge Transfer group meeting focused on farm OHS. Subsequently they completed a farm health and safety/work organisation template with their KT Facilitator as part of a Farm Plan which is required to be reviewed annually for a 3- year period.This task is divided between evaluating farmer’s adoption or non-adoption of OHS measures following participation in the DAFM Knowledge Transfer programme and assessing Knowledge Transfer programme facilitator’s perspectives on improving farm OHS and engendering behavioural change.

7A. Identification and Analysis of Behavioural Machinery-related Farm Safety Interventions

Lead researcher: Dr Denis O’Hora (NUIG)
Collaborators: PhD Student (NUIG), Dr Jennifer McSharry (NUIG)
Lead institution: NUI Galway

Description: The first step in developing two novel behavioural machinery-related interventions (BMach) interventions will be to identify and assess evidence for BMach interventions available nationally and internationally. BMachs will be sourced through the scientific literature, national networks, and from international experts. Gathering data from national networks and international experts is crucial to identify ‘grey literature’ that may include useful interventions (Hopewell, McDonald, Clarke, & Egger, 2007). A systematic review and meta-analysis will evaluate the evidence of behaviour or intentional change due to these interventions, where such evidence exists.The second step of the process will be to analyse the components of the BMachs that are required for successful implementation. Behavioural interventions can be developed based on a variety of theories or sometimes in the absence of recognised theory. Consequently, similar activities can be described differently and different activities labelled as the same across interventions. All too often, interventions are considered ‘black boxes’ that simply output a change in behaviour. Such an approach limits what can be learned from successful intervention and may occlude negative effects of intervention components within successful packages.

7B. Development and Refinement of Two Behavioural Farm Machinery Interventions

Lead researcher: Dr Denis O’Hora (NUIG)
Collaborators: PhD Student (NUIG), Dr Jennifer McSharry (NUIG)
Lead institution: NUI Galway

Description: Once candidate interventions have been identified in Task 7, input from expert panels of farmers, other stakeholders and international experts in farm safety will be collated to select targets (e.g., behaviours and demographic groups of farmers) for intervention and recommended strategies. This process with be heavily informed by the research being undertaken in Task 2. These strategies will then be modified further with focus groups of farmers to maximise the potential adoption and behaviour change amongst Irish farmers.

Once the range of candidate interventions has been documented, a panel of professionals will be established to participate in a nominal or expert group technique process. Since BMachs constitute a wide range of physical behaviours, the foremost goal of this group will be to prioritise behaviours for intervention. Also, as some demographic groups of farmers, e.g. younger and older farmers, are at increased risk of injury and fatality, these panels, informed by the results from Task 2 and Task 5 will provide input into the decision defining the target population.

8. Adoption of safer work systems for handling livestock and managing facilities on farms,  and effecting change in farmer behavior

Lead researcher: Dr Bernadette Earley
Collaborators: PhD Candidate; Dr Mohammad Mohammadrezaei; Dr. David Meredith, Dr. John G. McNamara, Dr. Noirin McHugh, Dr. Mark McGee, Mr. JJ Lenehan
Lead institution: Teagasc
Other institutions involved: UCD.
Collaborators: Dr. Marijke Beltman, Dr Aoife Osborne

Description: A recent study by Berney et al. (2017) reported four significant risk factors on Irish farms of which handling livestock resulted in the largest number of incidents resulting in spinal fracture with or without spinal cord injury. Teagasc research indicates that livestock are involved in 65% of all farm injuries on farm (McNamara et al., 2007). These results correspond with an analysis of farm fatalities undertaken by Meredith (2015) who found that animal related incidents accounted for most fatal accidents amongst older farmers.In general, the livestock related accidents and deaths are attributable to inadequate handling facilities on farms, poor set up or taking risks when dealing with livestock, less contact between farmer and livestock and inadequate attention given to temperament of animals (e.g. breeding animals for docility) (Pat Griffin, Pers. Comm). There is a behavioural aspect to all of these factors whether it is the decision to invest, or not, in adequate handling facilities or to approach an animal in a way that exposes the farmer to increased risks. This task seeks to improve understanding of the human – animal – work environment interaction with the objective of identifying risky behaviours, developing materials and resources that challenge perceptions of animal safety risks and the dissemination of these resources via knowledge transfer approaches.

9. Participatory co-design of interventions to enhance farm safety

Lead researcher: Dr Aine Macken-Walsh
Lead institution: Teagasc
Other institutions involved: NUI, Galway

Description: The most effective policy interventions successfully relate to, engage and influence the habitual behaviour of target communities (Thorogood, 2002). The public health literature identifies a first step in designing interventions, which is a thorough understanding of the ‘culture’ in which behavioural change is sought, where culture is described simply as “the way we do things around here” (Deal and Kennedy, 1982 cited in Griffith et al., 2010, 427). The challenge of successful interventions is not only to encourage the adoption of new knowledge, practices and routines but to alter existing practices. Therefore, research conducted in the preceding Tasks 2 - 10 are of critical importance in providing evidence-based data in relation to farmers’ knowledges, attitudes, behaviours and priorities regarding safety and risk management. In its first stage, this task translates evidence generated by preceding tasks into key messages that are interpretable to diverse actors in the agriculture sector. In its second stage, a multi-actor process involving farmers, policy-makers, safety inspectors, knowledge transfer specialists etc. is used to co-design practice-ready interventions. The co-design process will involve a series of workshops that generate co-designed interventions that respond to the key challenges identified by preceding tasks. The input of end-users in co-designing the interventions is an effort to maximise the interventions’ acceptability and effectiveness, following the hypothesis that co-designed interventions are “more suitable and diverse innovations that are more appropriate, easier to adopt, and developed more rapidly than innovations generated through conventional approaches” (Triomphe, 2012, p. 314). The methodology used for the co-design workshops is Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) and a research-controlled environment for the co-design process will be facilitated by a trained sociologist.

10. Dissemination

Lead researcher: Dr David Meredith
Lead institution: Teagasc
Other institutions involved: UCG, UCD

Description: This project is of relevance to a significant audience of farmers and farm households, policy stakeholders, regulators and researchers. Reflecting the variety of interest groups, we aim to provide a number of avenues for dissemination, including;

• Stakeholder Advisory Group Meetings (The Farm Safety Partnership)
• Annual Farm Safety Conference
• Presentations at workshops and conferences
• Popular media and articles
• Safefarmblog.wordpress.com
• Journal articles
• Engagement with the COST Action Network
• End-of-project conference
• End-of-project report