Stress and fatigue 'key causes of farm accidents' says study

Stress and fatigue have been identified as key causes of agricultural accidents, according to researchers.

The University of Aberdeen team found that "lapses in situation awareness" related to stress and fatigue were a main contributory factor.

The Non-Technical Skills in Agriculture group (NTSAg) said the project was the first to look at the impact of the issue.

They said the findings were "hugely significant".

Agriculture is the most dangerous industry in the UK, measured by fatality and injury rate, according to the team.

In the School of Psychology-funded project, researcher Ilinca-Ruxandra Tone interviewed farmers from the UK and Ireland.

The research found many lapses had occurred at a perception level, such as a failure to notice something.

Other lapses included misjudging the size of a vehicle, and some of these incidents were attributed to a recent change in equipment or machinery or over-familiarity with existing equipment.

She said: "We wanted to explore the link between stress and fatigue, situation awareness lapses and safety in farmers - something that no-one has looked at until now.

"We found consistently that farmers' stress and fatigue can negatively affect their mental picture of what is going on which leads to accidents and incidents.

"This is hugely significant given that stress and fatigue are prevalent issues in agriculture, alongside more serious mental health issues, and our findings extend our knowledge to establish a link between stress and fatigue and situation awareness."

The team will present the findings as part of Farm Safety Week in a fatigue in farming webinar with the Farm Safety Foundation on Tuesday.