Umeå researcher in U.S. collaboration on tractor accidents
NEWS
A successful collaboration between researchers in Sweden and the United States on the prevention of tractor rollover fatalities is the focus of the doctoral thesis that Julie Sorensen will defend at Umeå University on 20 February.
The thesis project has been carried out in collaboration between researchers at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University and the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine (NYCAMH) in Cooperstown, New York, USA. The aim was to ultimately prevent one of the most common causes of death among American farmers: when the tractor a farmer is operating overturns crushing the driver under the weight of the tractor In Sweden, these types of accidents have been largely eradicated several decades ago by mandating the installation of protective equipment on all tractors. However, in the United States, it is still permitted to use vehicles without these important safeguards. Roughly half of tractors in New York State are operated without turnover protective equipment.
To address the problem from a public health perspective, researchers from Umeå University and NYCAMH developed, implemented and evaluated a specific campaign to encourage farmers in the State of New York to install tip rollover protective structures (ROPS), on unprotected tractors. The thesis describes the development of the campaign design and implementation, and presents results from an evaluation of its impact on farmers' attitudes to and readiness to install vital safety devices.
Programme evaluations indicate that the rate of ROPS installation on New York tractors has increased ten-fold as a result of the programme. Additionlly, he programme has received nation-wide attention in the United States. and is currently considered to be the most successful ROPS program in the country. Prior to the launch of the program considerable research was conducted with members of the New York State farm community in order to assess the barriers and motivators these individuals face in their decision to install ROPS on their tractors. The results were applied to design the intervention programme which offers financial rebates to farmers for retrofitting and assistance with the installation process.
Julie Sorensen is project coordinator at the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine (NYCAMH) och doctoral candidate at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University. She can be reached by phone: +46 (0)90-785 26 77 or +46 (0)90-13 13 74, e-mail. jsorensen@nycamh.com
On Friday 20 February, Julie Sorensen, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, will defend her dissertation with the title The Use of Social Marketing for Injury Prevention: Changing risk perceptions and safety-related behaviors among New York farmers. The faculty opponent is Prof. Peter Lundquist, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp. The public defence will be held at 9:00 am in Room 135, Family Medicine, Norrlands University Hospital, Umeå.
