The status of agricultural injuries in Korea and implications.
10.5124/jkma.2012.55.11.1070
- Author:
Sang Baek KO
1
;
Ki Hyun LEE
;
Kyung Suk LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea. oemdoc@yonsei.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Agriculture;
Occupational injuries
- MeSH:
Administrative Personnel;
Agriculture;
Cause of Death;
Commerce;
Compensation and Redress;
Emergencies;
Fisheries;
Humans;
Korea;
Nutrition Surveys;
Occupational Injuries;
Occupations;
Plants
- From:Journal of the Korean Medical Association
2012;55(11):1070-1077
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
This study aims to investigate the status of agricultural injuries and to suggest measures to prevent and to manage them. To determine the scale of agricultural injuries in Korea, fatal injury data were analyzed by securing from the Annual Report on the Cause of Death Statistics and moderate to severe injuries were analyzed from the Emergency Department-based Injury Surveillance System (EDBISS). Nationwide data on minor injuries were analyzed from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), the Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS), and the Farmers Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illness. The SMR of farmers was significantly higher than that of other occupations. When the distribution of severity of injury was investigated from the EDBISS data, the injury severity of farmers was higher than that of other occupations. The rate of industrial injuries from the KWCS data was 4.51% in skilled agricultural and fishery workers, which was around twice as high as those of craft and related trade workers (2.27%) and plant and machine operators and assemblers (2.13%). The occupational injury reporting rate from KNHANES was the second highest, or 4.3%, in skilled agricultural and fishery workers, following that of plant and machine operators (6.2%), while the rates of manual workers, sales and service workers, clerks and professionals, and managers and administrators were 3.5%, 3.0%, 2.7%, and 2.1%, respectively (P<0.001). Social concern over this issue, a reporting system for occupational injuries, preventive measures such as safety education programs, and an accident compensation system are needed to prevent and manage agricultural injuries.