A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural Production

Agricultural injuries are a valuable social sustainability indicator. However, current methods use sector-scale production data, so are unable to assess the impact of changes in individual farming practices. Here, we developed a method that adopts a life cycle approach to quantify the number of seri...

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Main Authors: Noha Mahmoud, Allan Leck Jensen, Cairistiona F. E. Topp, Claus Aage Grøn Sørensen, Michael Nørremark, Vera Eory, Nicholas J. Hutchings
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/7/3859
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spelling doaj-6b64ffc3084340e69960a96e524e184d2021-03-31T23:06:04ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502021-03-01133859385910.3390/su13073859A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural ProductionNoha Mahmoud0Allan Leck Jensen1Cairistiona F. E. Topp2Claus Aage Grøn Sørensen3Michael Nørremark4Vera Eory5Nicholas J. Hutchings6Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, DenmarkDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, DenmarkLand Economy Environment and Society Research Group, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Peter Wilson Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UKDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, DenmarkDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, DenmarkLand Economy Environment and Society Research Group, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Peter Wilson Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UKDepartment of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, DenmarkAgricultural injuries are a valuable social sustainability indicator. However, current methods use sector-scale production data, so are unable to assess the impact of changes in individual farming practices. Here, we developed a method that adopts a life cycle approach to quantify the number of serious injuries during agricultural production processes and assess the potential impact of changes in agricultural practices. The method disaggregates agricultural production into operations and estimates the contribution each operation makes to the frequency of different types of injuries. The method was tested using data collected by survey during an expert workshop in which sixteen participants were asked to estimate the parameters related to typical dairy cattle and pig farms. Parameter estimates for specific operations varied considerably between participants, so normalized values were used to disaggregate sector-scale statistics to production operations. The results were in general agreement with the results from other studies. Participants found it challenging to quantify the potential effect of new technologies. Provided suitable empirical statistical data are available, the method can be used to quantify the risk of injury associated with individual products and provide an ex-ante assessment of future developments in farming practices.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/7/3859agriculturesafetymethod developmentsocial indicatorlife cycle analysisinjuries
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Noha Mahmoud
Allan Leck Jensen
Cairistiona F. E. Topp
Claus Aage Grøn Sørensen
Michael Nørremark
Vera Eory
Nicholas J. Hutchings
spellingShingle Noha Mahmoud
Allan Leck Jensen
Cairistiona F. E. Topp
Claus Aage Grøn Sørensen
Michael Nørremark
Vera Eory
Nicholas J. Hutchings
A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural Production
Sustainability
agriculture
safety
method development
social indicator
life cycle analysis
injuries
author_facet Noha Mahmoud
Allan Leck Jensen
Cairistiona F. E. Topp
Claus Aage Grøn Sørensen
Michael Nørremark
Vera Eory
Nicholas J. Hutchings
author_sort Noha Mahmoud
title A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural Production
title_short A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural Production
title_full A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural Production
title_fullStr A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural Production
title_full_unstemmed A Method to Quantify the Detailed Risk of Serious Injury in Agricultural Production
title_sort method to quantify the detailed risk of serious injury in agricultural production
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2021-03-01
description Agricultural injuries are a valuable social sustainability indicator. However, current methods use sector-scale production data, so are unable to assess the impact of changes in individual farming practices. Here, we developed a method that adopts a life cycle approach to quantify the number of serious injuries during agricultural production processes and assess the potential impact of changes in agricultural practices. The method disaggregates agricultural production into operations and estimates the contribution each operation makes to the frequency of different types of injuries. The method was tested using data collected by survey during an expert workshop in which sixteen participants were asked to estimate the parameters related to typical dairy cattle and pig farms. Parameter estimates for specific operations varied considerably between participants, so normalized values were used to disaggregate sector-scale statistics to production operations. The results were in general agreement with the results from other studies. Participants found it challenging to quantify the potential effect of new technologies. Provided suitable empirical statistical data are available, the method can be used to quantify the risk of injury associated with individual products and provide an ex-ante assessment of future developments in farming practices.
topic agriculture
safety
method development
social indicator
life cycle analysis
injuries
url https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/7/3859
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