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2008 Alberta Farm Injury Report

 
 
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Injury distribution by regional health authority | Injury distribution by agricultural region | Gender of victims | Summary of farm injuries by agent | Injuries involving livestock | Injuries involving machinery or vehicles | Injuries involving tools | Injuries involving chemicals | Injuries involving fire | Injuries involving other agents | Age groups of victims | Day of week when injury occurred | Time of day that injuries occurred | Body part injured | Type of injuries | Location of injury event | Summary by month

The content of this report was gathered from the Farm Accident Monitoring System (FAMS). The purpose of this report is to provide information on injury accidents recorded by the monitoring hospitals in 2008. The information in this report will be used by the Farm Safety Program in Alberta to enhance its education and awareness programs.

It is important to note:
  • FAMS is a voluntary program – not all hospitals report.
  • FAMS records emergency room visits only, not hospitalizations.
  • To view long-term data on hospitalizations and fatalities across Canada go to the Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program (CAISP) at www.meds.queensu.ca/~emresrch/caisp
General Summary

The chart below shows:
  • Number of injuries per month and how many hospitals reported them this year.
  • Totals per quarter with total facilities reporting in that quarter.
1. Injury Distribution by Regional Health Authority
  • Number of ER departments taken from www.health.gov.ab.ca/regions (Feb.2008)
  • Alberta was divided into 9 Regional Health Authorities in April 2003. In May 2008, these RHA were dissolved and all facilities came under the jurisdiction of the government, Alberta Health Services.
  • For the purposes of year to year comparisons the numbers of farm injuries are still tabulated under the regions. Hopefully in the future, all healthcare facilities, where emergency treatment is provided, will provide information and a comprehensive Alberta farm injury database will be available.
RHA
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Percentage
Number of Hospitals
Chinook
50
63
89
48
250
33%
9 out of 9
Palliser
8
12
4
2
26
3%
3 out of 5
Calgary
7
45
21
5
78
10%
2 out of 13
David Thompson
3
7
13
9
32
4%
4 out of 17
East Central
6
51
19
19
95
10%
7 out of 13
Capital Health
40
58
70
35
203
27%
11out of 11
Aspen
2
21
20
30
73
10%
9 out of 18
Peace Country
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 out of 12
Northern Lights
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 out of 3
Total
116
257
236
148
757
100%
46 out of 95
Of these 101 facilities, 6 have reported that there is no farming in their area

Note: Having assessed the chart above, you know that not all ER departments report their farm injuries (this is a voluntary program), therefore, keep this in mind when viewing the following charts. These numbers may be more indicative of participation than of high risk behavior.

All facilities with emergency departments in RHA#1 (Chinook) and RHA#6 (Capital Health) have reported their farm injuries. They are also very similar in total numbers and percentages.



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2. Injury Distribution by Agricultural Region

Agricultural Region
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Percentage
1
61
111
110
59
341
45%
2
7
16
17
11
51
7%
3
7
63
21
19
110
14%
4
41
67
88
59
255
34%
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
Unspecified
Total
116
257
236
148
757
100%



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3. Gender of Victims

Gender
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Percentage
Male
90
191
189
121
591
78%
Female
24
64
45
27
160
21%
Unspecified
2
2
2
6
1%
Total
116
257
236
148
757
100%

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4. Summary of Farm Injuries by Agent

Agent
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Percentage
4.1 Livestock
41
114
66
43
264
34%
4.2 Machinery
23
48
91
39
201
27%
4.3 Tools
14
26
10
9
59
8%
4.4 Chemical
8
13
5
3
29
4%
4.5 Fire
1
0
4
0
5
1%
4.6 Other or Unspecified*
41
87
71
62
261
26%
Total
128
288
247
156
819
100%
*There were 62 cases of two-agent incidents.



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4.1 Injuries Involving Livestock
  • Total number of injuries reported = 264 ( 34% of total )
  • Horses accounted for 36% of livestock related injuries ( 95 cases )
  • Another 47% (124 cases ) involved cattle; 2% ( 6 cases ) involved pigs
  • 64% (169 cases) were kicked or hit by livestock; 21% (56 cases) occurred from fall off a horse; 2% (5 cases) involved livestock hitting gate and then gate hitting farmer.
4.1 Livestock
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Cow
16
50
31
27
124
Horse
10
46
28
11
95
Pig
6
6
Chicken
Sheep
Elk/Deer
Dog
1
1
2
4
Goat/Alpaca
Buffalo
Cat
1
1
Donkey/Mule
Unspecified
14
10
5
5
34
Total
41
114
66
43
264



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4.2 Injuries Involving Machinery or Vehicles
  • Total number of injuries reported = 201 [ 27% of total ]
  • Tractors ranked as the number one type of machinery involved in injury accidents 13% [27 cases]. Of these, 74% [20 cases] occurred when getting on/off of the tractor.
  • Next was combines 10% [20 cases], augers 6% [13 cases], ATV’s and swathers 4% [9 cases], balers and harrows 3%, followed by seeding equipment, trucks, post pounders and potato harvesting systems at 2% each.
  • 40 cases or 20% were not differentiated. They were only listed as farm machinery.
  • 20% [41 cases] were caught in operating machinery and there was one case of clothing caught in machinery.
  • 14% [29 cases] occurred while repairing machinery.
  • There were 4 injuries [2%] involving machinery rollovers and 2 injuries [1%] involving machinery run over.



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4.3 Injuries Involving Tools
  • Total number of reported injuries = 59 [8% of total ]
  • Needles/syringes were the tools most often cited in reported injuries [32%], followed by knives [27%] and grinders [10%].
  • Some other tools reported in injuries were saw, welder, drill, jackall, milking machine and pitchfork.


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4.4 Injuries Involving Chemicals
  • There were 29 injuries reported involving chemicals [4% of total]


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4.5 Injuries Involving Fire

There were 5 injuries [1%] involving fire: one each caused by: electrical, wood and grass.

4.5 Fire
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Gasoline
1
1
Electrical
2
2
Chemical
Wood
Grass
1
1
Swather
Garbage
1
1
Barn
Other
Total
1
0
0
4
5

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4.6 Injuries Involving Other Agents

4.6 Other Agents
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Bales: Hay/Straw/ Stack/Twine
2
1
2
5
Barn/Loft/ Granary
1
3
4
8
Catte Gate/ Squeeze/Chute
2
8
10
Clothing
Concrete Forms
Feed Trough/ Bale Feeder
Fence/Post/ Corral
1
6
2
2
11
Gate
3
14
5
8
30
Grain/Grain Dust
6
4
10
Lumber/Handle/ Stick
1
1
2
Manure
1
1
Metal
1
4
2
7
Nail
6
1
7
Pipe/Chains
1
1
Rope
1
4
1
1
7
Scaffold/Ladder
2
4
6
Terrain
4
10
5
3
22
Trailer/Wagon
1
3
2
6
Water Tank
Wire/Barbed Wire
1
1
2
4
Unspecified
22
35
41
26
124
Total
41
87
71
62
261
* 62 cases are two-agent incidents

Under unspecified/other, there were 13 incidents [6.5%] involving overexertion, repetitive moves.

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5. Age Groups of Victims
  • The 18 to 34 year olds were involved in more accidents than any other group, accounting for 29% [221 cases] of the total injuries reported.
  • The age group with the least number of reported accidents was the children under 10 years old 4.5% [34 cases]. Children under 17 years of age accounted for 12.5% of all injuries.
  • People over 60 years of age accounted for 17% of reported injuries.
5. AgeGroups
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
<6
3
6
5
2
16
6 to 10
4
4
7
3
18
11 to 17
10
21
18
11
60
18 to 34
30
80
64
47
221
35 to 44
20
46
37
18
121
45 to 60
34
61
54
44
193
>60
15
38
49
23
125
Not Specified
0
1
2
3
Total
116
257
236
148
757



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6. Day of Week When Injury Occurred

6. Day of the Week
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Sunday
18
34
30
21
103
Monday
13
43
32
15
103
Tuesday
19
31
27
24
101
Wednesday
18
34
36
20
108
Thursday
13
36
32
21
102
Friday
17
42
42
23
124
Saturday
18
37
37
24
116
Total
116
257
236
148
757



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7. Time of Day that Injuries Occurred
  • Time indicated is when person presented at ER department – not necessarily when injury occurred.
7. Time of Day
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
06:01 to 09:00
6
14
15
6
41
09:01 to 12:00
25
40
36
20
121
12:01 to 15:00
23
29
39
34
125
15:01 to 18:00
22
37
39
32
130
18:01 to 21:00
24
48
50
27
149
21:01 to 24:00
7
28
26
17
78
0:01 to 6:00
3
6
3
3
15
Not Specified
6
55
28
9
98
Total
116
257
236
148
757



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8. Body Part Injured

8. Body Part
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Upper Extremity
46
109
105
61
321
hand/wrist
14
39
36
12
101
finger
20
30
41
28
119
thumb
3
8
4
7
22
arm/shoulder
9
32
24
14
79
Lower Extremity
33
67
62
40
202
foot/ankle/toe
15
34
32
20
101
leg/knee/hip
18
33
30
10
101
Trunk
14
37
26
17
94
back
2
13
8
6
29
abdomen/groin
1
8
5
4
18
chest/lungs
4
8
7
3
22
ribs
7
8
6
4
25
Head
19
46
40
32
137
head/neck
10
22
16
10
58
face
2
19
11
12
44
eye
7
5
13
10
35
Entire Body
4
7
3
1
15
No body parts identified66
Total
116
272
236
151
775
* Some incidents reported multiple types of injuries.



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9. Type of Injuries

9. Type of Injury
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Percentage
Laceration
18
53
70
39
180
23%
Contusion
25
63
41
37
166
21%
Fracture
25
63
41
37
166
21%
Crush
4
8
18
3
33
4%
Amputation
5
6
2
1
14
1%
Foreign Body
8
5
10
9
32
4%
Puncture
11
20
9
4
44
6%
Sprain
2
20
22
14
58
7%
Burn
2
5
7
1
15
2%
Abrasion
1
8
4
7
20
3%
Dislocation
3
8
5
3
19
2%
Concussion
6
7
4
3
20
3%
Strain
1
7
10
5
23
3%
Other
6
2
7
6
21
3%
Not Specified
4
3
2
9
1%
Total
116
257
258
158
789
100%
* Some incidents reported multiple types of injuries.



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10. Location of Injury Event
  • This was only recorded in 15% of the reported injuries. Of these, 34% occurred in the field; 24% in the corral and 17% in the barn. Others include granary, arena and feedlot.
11. Location
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Total
Yard
4
0
4
5
13
Field
2
8
17
11
38
Corral
4
13
4
6
27
Barn
4
10
5
19
Shop
3
1
2
6
Other
1
3
3
2
9
Not Specified
98
222
201
124
645
Total
116
257
236
148
757

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Summary by Month

May had the highest number of injuries at 16% [118 cases]; December had the least at 3%.



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For more information about the content of this document, contact Kenda Lubeck.
This information published to the web on April 2, 2009.