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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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 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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