Prevalence of ROPS–Equipped Tractors and Farm/Farmer Characteristics
2003
Data were collected on tractor safety status and the prevalence of ROPS as part of
the Ohio Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Program (FFHHSP) “walk–around”
hazard assessments of cash grain farms in central Ohio. Principal operator (PO) characteristics
thought a priori to have a possible association with ROPS utilization included age, education,
percent time spent farming, total years in agriculture, and previous training in occupational injury
prevention. Farm characteristics of interest were farm size, acres of cropland in use, sales value
during the past 12 months, and current number of farm workers. Descriptive and logistic
regression analyses were conducted to evaluate potential associations between these factors and
ROPS utilization patterns. Of 1,044 tractors encountered on 306 farms, 359 (34.4%) were
equipped with ROPS, 29 (9.5%) had nothing but ROPS–equipped tractors, and 117 (38.2%) did
not have any ROPS–equipped tractors. The absence/presence of ROPS–equipped tractors in our
sample was found to vary by several factors, and over a wide range. Results of univariable logistic
regression analyses (excluding the relatively small number of tractors manufactured after 1985)
indicated that younger POs with at least a high school education who spent more than half their
time working in agriculture, employed three or more workers, had 500 or more acres of total farm
land and cropland in use, and had a 12–month sales value exceeding $250,000 were more likely
to have at least one ROPS–equipped tractor on their farms. However, time spent farming, number
of workers, and the 12–month sales value were not strongly predictive in multivariable models.
Although more than 20% of the POs in our sample reported having had training in occupational
injury prevention, this factor had essentially no value in predicting the absence/presence of
ROPS–equipped tractors on their farms. The results of this study illustrate the need for
interventions to encourage ROPS retrofitting that target POs with less education and who work
on smaller and less productive farms. However, the low overall ROPS utilization rates suggest that
all farmers could benefit from intervention efforts.
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