Evaluation of the Agricultural Safety and Health Best Management Practices Manual

This study evaluated the Agricultural Safety and Health Best Management Practices manual (ASHBMP), a newly created tool that promotes hazard reduction activities on farms. The ASHBMP utilizes the concepts of best management practices that were placed into a user friendly and practical format to be used by insurance company representatives and farmers. The ASHBMP addresses farm work hazards and hazard control. Evaluation consisted of an interrater reliability testing and efficacy testing of the ASHBMP on Pennsylvanian farms. Interrater reliability testing consisted of 20 insurance agents conducting hazard audits on 11 pre-selected tractors, PTO-powered machines, and buildings or structures. The purpose of the interrater reliability testing was to see if insurance agents could be trained to be reliable farm hazard auditors. Efficacy testing took place on 146 randomly selected farms in Pennsylvania. Four treatments were used in the design of the study. The treatments were: (1) farmers who received a copy of the ASHBMP and results of a hazard audit (interaction); (2) farmers who received a copy of the ASHBMP only (main); (3) farmers who received a copy of the results of the hazard audit conducted on their farm (main); and (4) farmers who received a copies of safety fact sheets (control). Each farm was visited twice and a hazard audit was conducted during each visit. Efficacy was measured by the amount of change in hazards observed on the farm between hazard audits. The insurance agents exhibited a high reliability score in conducting hazard audits. The ASHBMP was found to be an effective tool to reduce hazards on farms.