Journal of Agromedicine最新文献

Objective: Marine aquaculture workers are at high risk of injury and fatalities. Understanding the role of weather in occupational safety and health (OSH) in marine aquaculture is important for work design, planning, and for safety management and hazard reduction, but there is limited research on this subject.

Methods: Using findings from a review of research and grey literature and from key informant interviews and roundtable discussions in Atlantic Canada, this paper explores the impact of weather-driven hazards on marine aquaculture in Northern and temperate regions, along with the strategies employed to mitigate these impacts.

Results: Findings indicate primary concerns for aquaculture OSH include sun and cold exposures; working on and under surface ice; strong winds; waves; current; reduced visibility; and ice build-up.

Conclusions: Key changes that could help reduce weather-related injury risk include improved forecasting capacity; improved reporting of weather conditions at the time of an incident in administrative injury and fatality data; incorporation of weather-related OSH hazards and risks in industry risk assessments; mechanization, including increased use of remote operation technologies on farm sites; and improved infrastructure standards and design.

One Health approaches emphasize intersections between animal health, environmental well-being and human health. Unfortunately, one health approaches rarely explicitly encompass occupational health and safety. This short report provides a concise introduction to the One Health principle, highlighting its potential relevance to improving occupational health and safety in aquaculture. It draws on recent risk assessment research on mass mortality events in marine salmon aquaculture and Norwegian calls for the implementation of holistic risk assessment approaches within aquaculture that encompass attention to occupational, environmental and animal health to illustrate how such one health approaches can help to improve aquaculture OHS. This report draws on reflections contained in a keynote address to IFISH6 in January 2024.

Objectives: Farmers have higher risk of suicide than the general working population but are less likely to seek help from mainstream mental health services. Farmer-focused sources of support such as farmer helplines may be a viable alternative, and several currently operate internationally. However, it is unclear whether these specialized helplines collectively tend to be used and are acceptable or effective in reducing farmers' distress. This review aimed to fill this important knowledge gap.

Methods: The PRISMA 2020 guidelines, in consultation with the extension for scoping reviews, guided the review process. The search included 13 academic databases and grey literature via Google.

Results: The database search yielded 1,337 initial results and a Google search strategy resulted in 620 links to investigate. Data extraction was sought from 28 papers and 332 online links. We identified 35 unique helplines operating across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, India, and Austria. Farmers do use helplines when experiencing stress; however, we found little empirical evidence of the acceptability or effectiveness of helplines. Anecdotal evidence suggested farmers are more likely to trust telephone support services operated by people who understand the farming way of life.

Conclusion: Research in this area is scant but promising. Farmers and farming communities will use farmer helplines in times of elevated stress. However, there is a pressing need for more rigorous evaluation studies to determine their effectiveness in this at-risk group. Further, when designing farmer helplines, careful consideration should be given to the extent to which those answering calls understand farming.

Riding lawnmowers are the most frequent cause of major limb amputation in children in the United States. Our study objective was to investigate the circumstances of child bystander-related riding lawnmower injuries and identify behaviors leading to these events. Followers/members of lawnmower injury-related Facebook pages, who were aware of children that had suffered a lawnmower injury, were invited to complete a survey. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions was performed. Of 140 injured children, 97 (69%) were bystanders. Major themes identified that contributed to the bystander-related injury event included: supervision issues (40%), child not perceiving danger (40%), child allowed to be in vicinity of mower (23%), and mower-related issues (58%), especially mowing in reverse. The contributing risk factors identified for child bystander-related riding lawnmower injuries reinforce many safety directives including close supervision of children by someone other than the operator, and not allowing children outside when mowing is being performed. Many children injured were approaching the mower to get rides. Mower rides likely desensitize children to the inherent dangers and lead them to seek rides when mowers are being used. Mower design preventing blade operation in reverse and not giving children rides may be critical in decreasing bystander-related riding lawnmower injuries.

This brief highlights the development and administration of Lifejackets for Lobstermen and its successor, Lifejackets for Fishermen. These programs provide education about, physical access to, and monetary incentives for personal floatation devices (PFDs). Preliminary data shows that commercial fishermen in New England have increased their PFD wear rates significantly since the launch of these programs in 2019.

Immediate access to advanced medical care in the event of an emergency or injury is not equitable across socioeconomic, occupational, and environmental conditions. Research has shown that basic first aid techniques, when standardized and provided to the public, can significantly improve victim survival in a traumatic event. The Fishing First Aid & Safety Training (FFAST) considers these factors to provide accessible, low, or no cost training across coastal regions of the United States that is adapted specifically for commercial fisheries. The foundation for FFAST is rooted in the theory and practice of austere medicine, which is generally practiced where traditional medical infrastructure, resources, or facilities are absent. Austere medicine often requires decision-making with limited information and resources to optimize patient outcome. FFAST curriculum emphasizes regional adaptations to fit specific fishing audiences and hands-on training and skills practice. Training is delivered using in-person instruction by culturally competent instructors, embedded within fishing communities throughout the United States. To enhance training quality and sustain instructor capacity, we have established a nationally connected network of trainers who actively collaborate to build capacity to provide FFAST to the communities in their respective regions. We support the network through regular all-team meetings to exchange knowledge and report outcomes, and inter-regional train-the-trainer coordination so each partner benefits from best practices and lessons learned across the alliance. The collaborative network supports all partners to meet commercial fishing professional's growing demand for FFAST training.

For many years, the International Fishing Industry Safety and Health Conference (IFISH) has focused on highlighting research, training and advocacy work and fostering collaboration among stakeholders to foster a healthier, safer seafood industry. While prior conferences have included many opportunities for trans-disciplinary discussions and problem-solving, the IFISH Planning Committee has been exploring the option of developing a platform for collaboration and information exchange in between events, which only happen every few years. At the IFISH 6 Conference, held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, participants were invited to attend the "International IFISH Innovation Exchanges" post-conference workshop, which was held on the final day of the conference. The focus of the workshop was to get participant feedback on how to create a platform for collaboration in between conferences. This brief report provides an overview of the concept, participant feedback and the work that has been conducted post-conference to make the IFISH Innovation Exchange a reality.