Papers

The NTSAg team conduct research examining safety in farming.  Below are the key publications from this group so far.  If you would like to get involved in the research, or find out more about it, please get in touch with Dr Amy Irwin.

Iamge Description

 

Non-Technical Skills in Farming, an interview study.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753514003294

This project recruited 32 farmers from the UK and Ireland, to discuss critical incidents they had experienced on their farms (any issues, problems, accidents or injuries).  Their experiences were then examined to determine if they had used NTS, or if lapses in NTS were linked to any of the incidents.  The results showed that farmers used NTS while working as part of a team, and a sub-set of those skills when working alone. Team non-technical skills were identified as: situation awareness, decision-making, leadership, teamwork and task management. Lone worker non-technical skills were identified as: situation awareness, decision-making and task management.  This suggests NTS are an important element of farming safety and performance.

 

Predictors of Non-Technical Skills in farming, a questionnaire study.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1059924X.2017.1384775

A sample of 170 farmers from the United Kingdom and Ireland were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included measures of personality, stress, attitudes towards safety (safety climate, motivation, and risk), environmental stressors (workload, work-life imbalance) and non-technical skills (team and lone worker).  The results showed that the more importance was placed on safety, and the more motivated participants were to engage in safety procedures, the more positive their attitude towards NTS was.  Personality was also related to NTS attitudes with a high level of conscientiousness linked to positive attitudes towards NTS.  This suggests that NTS attitudes can vary across different farm and individual circumstances, which may impact future NTS training interventions.

 

 

Investigation of UK farmer go / no-go decisions in response to tractor-based risk scenarios.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1059924X.2017.1423000

A sample of 148 farmers from the United Kingdom and Ireland were recruited to take part in an online scenario-based study.  Participants were presented with twelve tractor-based scenarios, three from each category of risk, and asked to indicate if they would proceed to use the tractor (go) or not (no-go), then report their reasoning.  Farmers assessed the consequences of risk in terms of potential costs (e.g. repair bill), losses (e.g. delay) and personal injury or risk. Analysis indicated that financial risk was considered with more caution than personal risk in many cases.  Farmers also considered usability, such as the functionality of tractor seatbelts, indicating the importance of ensuring all safety equipment is fit for purpose.