Ergonomic analysis of work-related hazards in older farmers: a comparison between Sweden and Italy

The progressive aging of the workforce affects also the agricultural industry, with farmers often working well beyond their expected retirement age (1-3). The aging process is related to many physical and cognitive changes which can affect the interaction with the work environment and can give rise to new hazards and risks for older farmers (4,5). Agricultural machinery, in particular tractors, are a major source of discomfort and accidents (2,6,7). These issues can be properly investigated by adopting an ergonomic approach, which focuses on the interaction between humans and the other elements of a system. Based on these considerations, the present study aims at performing an ergonomic analysis of work-related hazards in two sample of older farmers in Sweden and Italy, two peculiar countries in terms of agricultural practices and accidents involving older farmers. 10 male farmers aged 65 and over in both Sweden and Italy will be involved in the study. A semi-structured interview will be administered to investigate: 1) Motivation and satisfaction toward farm work; 2) Perceived physical and cognitive workload, 3) Safety practices and previous accidents. The interaction with the agricultural machinery will be assessed through: 1) The simulation of some working tasks involving the tractor, 2) A brief questionnaire about the comfort of the tractor cab. Anthropometric parameters will be considered too, to evaluate the effects of human physical variability on the human-machinery interaction. Data collection started in May 2015 in Sweden. Later on a matched group of participants will be involved in Italy. The results of the study will highlight similarities and differences in work-related hazards between Swedish and Italian older farmers. Based on this, some considerations will be done about the prevention campaigns, training interventions and design solutions that it's possible to develop to improve health and safety of older farmers in the two countries.