Dissertation
Conversations about safety: protecting young farm workers
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2025
DOI: 10.25820/etd.008121
Abstract
Youth face significant risks of injuries and fatalities on family farms, where the overlapping roles of home and workplace create unique challenges. While farming hazards are well-documented, there is limited understanding of youth behavior on farms, their interactions with hazards, and the most effective methods for delivering safety training and guidance to this vulnerable population. This qualitative research investigates how adolescents and their parents address farm safety, share safety information, and perceive injury risks, safety efficacy, and safety strategies. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom with fifteen parent-youth pairs (dyads) living and working on family farms in southeastern Iowa.
Aim 1, guided by the Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM), compared parent-youth responses to better understand their approach to farm safety and their perceptions of injury risk, severity, and safety efficacy. Deductive analysis revealed substantial overlaps between parent and youth pairs, with all dyads expressing confidence in their safety strategies and ability to prevent severe farm injuries. However, most did not view themselves or their youth as vulnerable to injuries, reducing their likelihood of taking additional safety actions.
Aim 2 explored how parents and youth share farm safety information and employ strategies to protect youth on family farms. Inductive analysis highlighted communication as a critical component, often facilitated by cellphones. Despite confidence in their safety measures, participants admitted to inconsistent adherence to protocols and perceived a low risk of injury, relying on the effectiveness of existing strategies.
Aim 3 assessed parent-youth interactions and perspectives during discussions about a farm safety vignette, a short story describing a hypothetical scenario. Participants identified farm hazards and contributing factors, such as inexperience, inadequate training, poor supervision, and unsafe behavior modeling, that increase injury risks. The vignette revealed a disconnect between parents and youth, with youth believing “Alex” would follow safety instructions, while parents believed “Alex” would imitate unsafe practices. Some parents used the vignette as a teaching tool, fostering discussions where youth sought reassurance and encouragement.
These findings deepen the understanding of how safety training and education are delivered to youth on family farms, contributing to agricultural safety research. This study underscores the need for improved communication, task assignment, and the modeling, training, and supervision of farm tasks between parents and youth, offering valuable insights to enhance youth safety in agricultural settings.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Conversations about safety: protecting young farm workers
- Creators
- Anna Rose Proctor
- Contributors
- Diane Rohlman (Advisor)Elizabeth O'Neal (Committee Member)Carri Casteel (Committee Member)Ebonee Johnson (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Occupational and Environmental Health
- Date degree season
- Summer 2025
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.008121
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xiii, 201 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2025 Anna Proctor
- Grant note
This research was funded by the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health via Grant Number U54 OH007548 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
(59)This research was funded by the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health via Grant Number U54 OH007548 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
(110)This research was funded by the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health via Grant Number U54 OH007548 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
(176)- Language
- English
- Date submitted
- 05/21/2025
- Description illustrations
- Illustrations, graphs, charts, tables
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references.
- Public Abstract (ETD)
Youth who work on family farms face high risks of injuries. These risks may increase because their homes and workplaces overlap. While we know about the dangers present on farms, there is a need to understand how youth manage and learn about these risks from their parents. This study investigated how parents and their children talk about and handle safety on family farms. We interviewed 15 parent-youth pairs, asking them about safety practices and giving them a short story, a vignette, to see how they would react to a hypothetical farming scenario.
We found that parents and their children usually agreed on ways to stay safe and felt confident they could avoid injuries through their safety rules. However, many did not believe that they or their child were at risk of injury on the farm, so they were unlikely to implement additional safety rules beyond what they already had in place. Several also shared that they do not follow the safety rules on the farm. Parents taught their children to farm through modeling (demonstrating how to do a job), giving instructions, and, rarely, supervising their child. Communication was reported as key to staying safe. The vignette discussion showed that parents and youth thought farm parents were responsible for their child s safety on the farm. The pairs shared inexperience, lack of training, and poor supervision contributed to a higher chance of farm injury. These findings help us understand how young people learn about staying safe while working on their family farms. By looking at how parents and children talk about safety and handle risky tasks, the research findings support efforts to create safer working conditions for youth on family farms.
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health
- Record Identifier
- 9984948642402771
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