Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Fatal agricultural injuries in North Carolina by race and occupation, 1977-1991.

Authors: Richardson, D; Loomis, D; Wolf, S H; Gregory, E

Published In Am J Ind Med, (1997 Apr)

Abstract: Medical examiner reports and death certificates were reviewed for all fatal agricultural injuries (n = 228) that occurred on-the-job in North Carolina between 1977 and 1991. Data were collected on the decedents' age, gender, race, data and time of injury, means of injury, and occupation. Annual workforce estimates were derived from the 1980 and 1990 US Census of the Population. Overall, 54% of the fatal injuries were due to tractors. Farmers who suffered fatal injuries tended to be older (median age = 56 years) and Caucasian (87%), while farm workers who died on the job were younger (median age = 35 years) and more often African-American (60%). The crude mortality rate for farmers was 38 per 100,000 worker-years; the crude rate for farm laborers was 16 per 100,000 worker-years. Age-adjusted fatal injury rates were 2.5 times higher among African-American farmers than among Caucasian farmers; furthermore, between 1977 and 1991 the rate of fatal injury among African-American farmers increased an estimated 14.7% per year. African-American farmers in North Carolina have experienced rising rates of fatal injuries at a time when employment in the industry is declining due to consolidation of farm ownership and foreclosures of African-American owned farms. In order to address the growing racial disparity in farm fatalities, efforts need to be made to improve the conditions under which African-American farmers are working.

PubMed ID: 9093661 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Accidents, Occupational/mortality*; Accidents, Occupational/statistics & numerical data; Adolescent; Adult; African Americans/statistics & numerical data*; Age Distribution; Aged; Agricultural Workers' Diseases/epidemiology; Agricultural Workers' Diseases/mortality*; Data Collection; European Continental Ancestry Group/statistics & numerical data*; Female; Humans; Incidence; Linear Models; Male; Middle Aged; North Carolina/epidemiology; Risk Factors; Sex Distribution; Wounds and Injuries/ethnology*; Wounds and Injuries/etiology; Wounds and Injuries/mortality

Back
to Top