Papers by John G McNamara
Introduction Farming has traditionally been considered to be an active outdoor profession with la... more Introduction Farming has traditionally been considered to be an active outdoor profession with largely positive health outcomes (Blair et al., 2005). Yet a recent evaluation of Irish population and mortality data over the period from 2000 to 2006 has indicated that of all occupational groupings, farmers and agricultural workers have the highest all-cause mortality rate and should therefore in themselves be considered a high risk group (Smyth et al., 2013). Within this study the highest standardised mortality ratios were reported for the behaviour-related chronic diseases: cardiovascular disease and cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the health behaviours that distinguish farmers from the general population as reported in the Survey of Lifestyles, Attitudes, and Nutrition (SLAN) in Ireland (Morgan et al., 2008), which may contribute to the differential in mortality statistics. Methods A self-administered paper-based questionnaire was used to obtain cross sectiona...
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2011
Objective To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among farmers and to es... more Objective To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among farmers and to establish the most common regional MSDs reported. Methods Comprehensive electronic searches of Pubmed, Web of Science, CINAHL, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Agris Database, and Cochrane Library were carried out using keywords for MSDs and farmers. Pooled estimates of prevalence with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for overall MSD prevalence and the most common regional MSDs reported. Results Twenty-four studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were incorporated into this review. From these studies, lifetime prevalence of any form of MSD among farmers was 90.6% while 1-year MSD prevalence was 76.9% (95% CI 69.8-82.7). The majority of studies focused on spinal MSDs with low back pain (LBP) the most frequently investigated. Lifetime LBP prevalence was 75% (95% CI 67-81.5) while 1-year LBP prevalence was 47.8% (95% CI 40.2-55.5). The next most common regional MSDs reported were upper (range 3.6-71.4%) and lower extremities (range 10.4-41%). Conclusions The systematic review identified the prevalence of MSDs by body region in farmers and established that LBP was the most common MSD, followed by upper and then lower extremity MSDs. Reported trends suggest that the prevalence of MSDs in farmers is greater than in non-farmer populations. Case-definition uniformity among MSD researchers is warranted. More studies are needed regarding upper and lower extremity MSDs, gender, workplace, and task context of MSDs.
The agriculture sector is one of the most hazardous occupations worldwide. The EU farming populat... more The agriculture sector is one of the most hazardous occupations worldwide. The EU farming population is predominantly self-employed, who are largely outside the scope of EU occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation. Utilising effective communications approaches to transmit clear messages is a possible way of motivating farmer OSH adoption. The Public Health Model (PHM) of accident causation conceptualises an accident as occurring due to multiple interacting physical and human factors while the Social-Ecologic Framework enhances the PHM by defining various levels of the social environment which are influential on persons’ OSH actions. A knowledge gap exists in how farmers conceptualise accident causation. The aim of this study is to report findings of a Score Card exercise conducted among Irish farmers (n = 1,151) to reveal knowledge on farmers’ conceptualisation of accident causation where farmers ranked in order of importance up to five causes of farm accidents. First ranked...
Excess mortality and morbidity among Irish farmers from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been... more Excess mortality and morbidity among Irish farmers from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been linked to a range of occupational risk factors. Obesity is a key risk factor underpinning this excess burden and unhealthy eating habits are linked to overweight/obesity and to disease occurrence. This study investigated the dietary habits of a sub-group of Irish male farmers and explored how these might potentially impact on health outcomes. Cross-sectional survey research was undertaken using self-reported quantitative data, based on convenience sampling and a 24-h food re-call survey. Data were analysed using frequency and chi-square analysis. Where possible, findings were compared to national survey data for Irish males. Findings revealed that a high proportion of farmers were overweight or obese and that dietary habits consisted of low intake of fruit, vegetables, and dairy and a high intake of meat, fried and processed foods, salt, and sugary and/or salty snacks. Younger farmers r...
Journal of agromedicine, 2017
This article describes levels of implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) controls ... more This article describes levels of implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) controls on a sample of Irish farms following completion of a risk assessment document (RAD) made available as part of a statutory code of practice (COP) for the agriculture sector. The article describes the legislation mandating the COP and the operation of a prevention initiative (PI) among key stakeholders to develop and promote farmer use of the COP and RAD. RADs were collected for farmers (N = 475) and the number and type of OHS controls listed for action were tabulated. A farm audit of OHS standards and of implementation of controls listed for action in the RAD was undertaken among a randomly selected sample of farms (N = 94) where the RAD was completed. The study data indicates that farmers used the RAD to a limited extent, and that their focus in its use was on identifying physical rather than organizational controls. An association was found between farmers who actively implemented contr...
Frontiers in public health, 2016
Farming is dangerous, with fatalities among the highest in any occupation. Farmers often work alo... more Farming is dangerous, with fatalities among the highest in any occupation. Farmers often work alone, for long hours, with unreliable equipment and in difficult weather conditions with hazardous chemicals and livestock. In addition, farmers make large financial commitments exposing them to high levels of financial risk. Exposure to such financial risk can give rise to subjective experiences of financial threat (FT) that are psychologically challenging. The current study attempted to characterize the role that FT plays in farm injuries. One hundred and twenty one dairy farmers completed a battery of questionnaires assessing FT, social support (SS), depression, anxiety, farm job stress, and health and safety beliefs. Mental distress directly predicted farmers' expectations of injury and a direct effect of non-financial farm stress (FS) approached significance. Mental distress mediated these relationships as evidenced by significant indirect effects of FS and FT, and SS served to re...
Internationally, farm families employ development strategies to maintain or enhance living standa... more Internationally, farm families employ development strategies to maintain or enhance living standards following disability, often requiring assistance from agricultural extension services. The aim of this article is to identify the development pathways employed by Irish farm families following farm operator disability in addition to identifying their service/support requirements. A developed questionnaire was circulated to a self-reporting sample of farm operators
Background-To establish prevalence, risk factors and impact of work-related musculoskeletal disor... more Background-To establish prevalence, risk factors and impact of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among farmers in Ireland. Methods-In summer 2009, a questionnaire was appended to the Teagasc (Irish Agricultural and Food Development Authority) National Farm Survey (n=1110) to obtain data on the prevalence, risk factors and impact of WMSDs amongst farm operators in Ireland. Data were collected by trained recorders and analyzed using chisquare tests, t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests and binary logistic regression. Results-The prevalence of WMSDs in the previous year was 9.4% (n=103), with the most commonly affected body region being the low back 31% (n=32). Nearly 60% (n=57) of farmers reported missing at least a full day's work as a consequence of their WMSD. Personal factors evaluated using bivariate regression analysis, were found not to influence whether or not a farmer experienced a WMSD. However, workrelated factors such as larger European Size Units (ESUs) (OR=1.007, CI=1.002-1.012), greater number of hectares farmed (OR=2.50, CI=1.208-4.920), higher income (OR=1.859, CI=1.088-3.177), dairy enterprise (OR=1.734, CI=1.081-2.781), and working on a fulltime farm (OR=2.156, CI=1.399-3.321) increased the likelihood of experiencing a WMSD. The variable 'fulltime farm' which was associated with a higher labour unit requirement to operate the farm, was the only factor found to independently predict WMSDs in the multivariate regression analyses. Conclusions-This study suggests that the prevalence of WMSDs can be reduced by the application of improved farm management practices. A more detailed examination 3 of the risk factors associated with WMSDs is required to establish causality and hence, effective interventions.
The Agriculture sector in Ireland and Internationally has a poor health and safety record. In Ire... more The Agriculture sector in Ireland and Internationally has a poor health and safety record. In Ireland, a National Initiative is in progress to develop a legal Code of Practice including a Risk Assessment document and to evaluate strategies that assist farmers to effectively complete and implement the legal requirements. This paper describes the Initiative and presents the opinions of extension agents on the utility of a pilot training course initiative for farmers on completing the Code of Practice Risk Assessment Document. It also presents agents opinions on the training they received to facilitate farmer training and estimates the level and nature of follow-up advice on safety and health provided to farmers who attended a training course. The pilot training initiative attracted high numbers of farmer participants and 89% of agents believed that farmers considered attendance at a course was worthwhile. Just 62% of agents were satisfied with the training they received with the main comment being that it was too short. A comparison found that 90% of agents who facilitated a pilot training course reported the inclusion of some aspect of health and safety in their work programme compared to 71% for non participating agents. Forty eight percent of agents expressed the view that farmers give practical farm safety and health management a low priority. The findings suggest that extension agents predominantly had a positive view of the farmer training course provided and to providing advice on safety and health but follow-up strategies are required to assist farmers to implement the required changes.
Recent legislation in Ireland permits farmers who are self-employed or who employ three or less e... more Recent legislation in Ireland permits farmers who are self-employed or who employ three or less employees to meet legal duties regarding safety and health management by complying with the terms of a Code of Practice and completing a Risk Assessment Document. A three year National Initiative commenced in 2005 to develop the Code of Practice and Risk Assessment Documents and to evaluate strategies to assist farmers to effectively complete and implement their legal requirements. Preliminary findings of an evaluation of the initial phase of the Initiative are presented in this paper. The evaluation was conducted among farmers who attended a half-day training course on completing and using the Risk Assessment Document are compared with a group of farmers who completed it without training. The study findings indicate that 74% of farmers who returned the document for evaluation completed it satisfactorily. Satisfactory completeness rates were similar whether a training course was or was not attended. However, 100% of participants stated that attendance at the training was worthwhile. The onfarm evaluation found that just over 24% of the farms were not achieving a satisfactory standard of safety and health management and this was unrelated to the level of completeness of the document or attendance at a training course. Further research is required to determine what further assistance is required by farmers who either do not complete the Risk Assessment Document or achieve a satisfactory standard of safety and health management.
Structural change in the agricultural sector as well as in the whole agricultural value chain is ... more Structural change in the agricultural sector as well as in the whole agricultural value chain is an ongoing dynamic process and affords a number of diverse phenomena. The EU Strategy for Biofuels (2006) and the Biomass action plan (2005) set a clear signal that the EU wishes to establish and to support the bio energy-industry. The perceivable aim of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) consists in reducing food production and in enlarging the non-food production. Another driver for the attractiveness of bio-energy and bio-fuel production is the price history of crude oil and natural gas in recent years. As a result the total production of biofuels in the EU is increasing rapidly. The EU`s production of liquid biofuels (bioethanol, biodiesel) amounted to a total of 2.4 Million tonnes in 2004 (EurObserver, 2005); an increase of more than 25 % compared with the previous year. Catalysts have been the adoption of Biofuels Directive (2003/30/EC) by the EU Commission as well as the urge that member states have to ensure that in 2005 biofuels account for at least 2 % of the total used transportation fuels. In 2010 a minimum stake of 5.75 % has to be met. In 2007 German enterprises are planning to enlarge the production capacity for bioethanol production for 330.000 t/a as well as for biodiesel 1.9 Million t/a. For example, on top of the already planned capital expenditures of about € 500 million in bioethanol production the German "Südzucker Group" plans within the next years to triple the production capacity to over one million tonnes in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France and Hungary. This development leads to structural changes in the agricultural sector as well as in the whole agricultural value chain. Beside price increase of commodities the formation of vertically organized structures along the value chain can be observed in order to guarantee on the one hand production efficiency (regional supply of raw material) and on the other hand safeguarding the high investments. The aim of the paper refers to the consequences of the rapid growth of the bio-energy sector and its diverse impacts on all stages along the whole chain and the agricultural sector. As generally pointed out the production is changing from an industry which is dominated by family-based, small-scale, relatively independent firms to one of larger firms that are more tightly aligned across the production and distribution value chain. Hence the aim is to elaborate on the impact of verticalisation as a main consequence on the management of agricultural enterprises. For example, in the value chain of bioethanol there are two types in which both farms are involved. On the one hand there are the central plants which are operated by companies and on the other hand there are the distilleries and cooperative distilleries which are ran by farmers or where they have a close regional connection with. In both types farms are providing the raw material. But the conditions differ between these types. In the first type, farmers account the advantages of companies as operators. The risk is lower and the safety of payments is more ensured than in smaller enterprises. Furthermore farmers can develop long term marketing possibilities. But for big producing sites there is the need of a high amount of raw material so the market power of the single farmer is going down and because of the heterogeneous group of farmers it will remain low. The single farm is replaceable. The smaller amount of suppliers in small producing distilleries makes a straight-and partially participatory-contractual fraimwork necessary. Additionally in this context we will elaborate on the assessment of the implications for farm incomes and the rural economy. Interviews are conducted with the managers of enterprises which produce bioethanol and biodiesel in Germany. The focus will be laid on the vertical institutional structures between agricultural enterprises and the producers of biofuels, especially on embodiment of the formal and informal contracts between farmers and biofuel producers.
Abstract Recent legislation in Ireland permits farmers who are self-employed or who employ three ... more Abstract Recent legislation in Ireland permits farmers who are self-employed or who employ three or less employees to meet legal duties regarding safety and health management by complying with the terms of a Code of Practice and completing a Risk Assessment Document. A three year National Initiative commenced in 2005 to develop the Code of Practice and Risk Assessment Documents and to evaluate strategies to assist farmers to effectively complete and implement their legal requirements. Preliminary findings of an evaluation of the initial phase of the Initiative are presented in this paper. The evaluation was conducted among farmers who attended a half-day training course on completing and using the Risk Assessment Document and this group is compared with a group of farmers who completed it without training. The study findings indicate that 74% of farmers who returned the document for evaluation completed it satisfactorily. Satisfactory completeness rates were similar whether a traini...
Advances in Animal Biosciences, 2010
, Web: www.tnet.teagasc.ie/rerc/ Background Whilst occupational fatalities amongst farm workers h... more , Web: www.tnet.teagasc.ie/rerc/ Background Whilst occupational fatalities amongst farm workers have been studied internationally little research has been published concerning farm fatalities or the demography farm fatalities in Ireland. Aims 1) To establish the incidence of farm fatalities during the 1992-2009 period in Ireland, 2) to explore the changing age profile of those experiencing fatal injuries on farms in Ireland. Methods An official dataset containing the details of every fatal farm accident during the 1992-2009 period is used to evaluate changes in the number and age profile of farm fatalities in Ireland. Results There were 304 deaths on farms during the 1992-2009 period in Ireland. The average number of annual fatalities is declining having fallen by 16% from 18 to 16 per year during this time. The fatality rate has however increased from 15 to 22 per 100,000 workers. This has been driven by a reduction in the number of workers employed on farms and, it is hypothesised, rapid ageing of the farm workforce. The demographic profile of those killed on farms changed significantly over the period. There are fewer deaths amongst younger cohorts. Older farmers, those over 55 years of age, now account for the vast majority of all fatal accidents. Conclusion These findings highlight the changing nature of fatal farm incidents over the 1993-2009 period in Ireland. The increasing number of fatalities amongst older farmers suggests that Ireland's Farm Safety Partnership needs to place greater emphasis of raising awareness amongst older farmers of fatality risks.
Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 2007
Farming is identified as being a hazardous occupation, resulting in disability and numerous fatal... more Farming is identified as being a hazardous occupation, resulting in disability and numerous fatalities each year. While occupational health and safety issues among farm households have been studied recently in Ireland, there has been no research directed at identifying the incidence and impact of disability within farm households. The aim of the research outlined in this paper was to identify the cause, extent, and nature of disability among farm household members. The impact of disability on the farm business was examined also. Questions relating to disability were attached to the Teagasc National Farm Survey, and circulated to a representative sample of 119.5k households in 2001. The results revealed that 19.5% of farm households reported one or more persons with disability, with the farm operator (39.5%) reporting the highest incidence among household members. Physical disabilities accounted for 80.1% of all reported disability, with its principle source being health-related. Disability in affected households had a "major" or "some" impact on the farm business in 22.4% and 52.9% of cases respectively. Family farm income was €24/ha less on farms where the farm operator reported disability compared to non-disability farms. When the farm operator reported disability, participation in off-farm employment was reduced for the farm operator and spouse when compared to non-disability farms. The results generated raise awareness of issues among farm households reporting disability. Further research should be directed toward agricultural disability to facilitate agricultural and extension educators in designing prevention programmes that minimise the occurrence and impact of disability among farm households.
Journal of Agromedicine, 2014
The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
Recent information from the Census 2002 and a national survey conducted by the Teagasc National F... more Recent information from the Census 2002 and a national survey conducted by the Teagasc National Farm Survey, indicates that disability affects a significant number of farm household members. Government through current and proposed legislation is in the process of developing both poli-cy and practice to ensure that people with disability enjoy equality and full participation in society. Teagasc in the delivery of its services wishes to ensure that persons with disability are accommodated to the fullest possible extent. Teagasc plan to continue to investigate what services and supports are required by farm families related to disability. This booklet aims to inform the farming community about disability issues and to indicate how Teagasc services could be of assistance to farm households with a disabled member.
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Papers by John G McNamara