Agricultural Accidents and Ergonomic intervention in Agricultural Machinery Design in India

Abstract

Accident is an unexpected event with negative consequences occurring unintentionally causes due to ignorance, lack of training and knowledge and unsuited design of implements. Ergonomics prioritizes design of safer machinery and tools for accident avoidance. To investigate about agricultural accidents surveys were conducted during the periods 2005-2007 and 2012-2014 throughout West Bengal to assess the magnitude, causes and severity of agricultural accidents through direct interviews of the victims and their related ones in case of fatal accidents with the help of developed questionnaire. Different ergonomic interventions were introduced to the agricultural workers to minimize the accidents. The total population in the periods 2005-2007 and 20 12-2014 of the selected districts was recorded as 189940 including 53.6% male and 46.3% female and 297347 with 52.4% male and 47.6% female, respectively with total growth of 36.1% since 2007. Highly accident prone agricultural machinery includes thresher, power tiller, rotavator, chaff cutter, tractor etc. Accidents due to agricultural machinery, hand tools and other sources like snake bite, thunder were found to be 14.8%, 54.8% and 30.4%, respectively in 2005-2007 and 44.1%, 27.5% and 28.4%, respectively. The accident incidence rates due to hand tools was found to be decreased from 1.51 to 1.127 per 1000 hand tools due to increase of awareness about use of hand tools. But in the contrary, the accident incidence rates due to agricultural machinery was found to be increased over two mentioned periods from 1.28 to 2.62 per 1000 farm machines due to increased mechanization over the years. More awareness about the safe operation of agricultural machinery will decrease the accident incidence rate.