ABSTRACT

Livestock cause many fatal and non-fatal agricultural accidents. It is crucial to understand how farmers perceive and manage different risks associated with livestock handling to devise better solutions for accident reduction. The current study investigated farmers’ perception and management of four types of livestock handling risks related to self, animal, environment, and equipment. Additionally, farmers’ and agricultural stakeholders’ perspectives were compared.

Two samples comprising 56 farmers and 55 stakeholders from the UK and Ireland completed the online study. Participants were presented with eight short livestock handling vignettes, two per risk type, and were asked to decide whether they would proceed with the task, to report their reasoning, and to detail their risk management strategies. Likert-scale responses across scenarios were compared. Thematic analysis was used to identify qualitative data patterns.

Stress and fatigue were perceived as low risk by both samples based on quantitative and qualitative results. The thematic analysis revealed that risk was evaluated in terms of broader aspects, including animal welfare and duty. Participants reported the use of cognitive non-technical skills when mitigating risks associated with handling livestock alone.

By changing safety messages to capture farmer priorities, agricultural organisations could encourage risk avoidance, especially in situations involving stress or fatigue. Furthermore, the cognitive non-technical skills identified could be trained within existing courses for farmers.

摘要

畜牧业造成许多致命和非致命的农业事故。了解农民如何看待和管理与牲畜处理相关的不同风险以设计更好的减少事故解决方案至关重要。目前的研究调查了农民对与自身、动物、环境和设备相关的四种牲畜处理风险的看法和管理。此外，还比较了农民和农业利益相关者的观点。

由来自英国和爱尔兰的 56 名农民和 55 名利益相关者组成的两个样本完成了在线研究。向参与者展示了八个简短的牲畜处理小插曲，每种风险类型两个，并被要求决定他们是否会继续这项任务，报告他们的推理，并详细说明他们的风险管理策略。比较了不同情景的李克特量表反应。主题分析用于识别定性数据模式。

根据定量和定性结果，两个样本都认为压力和疲劳风险较低。专题分析表明，风险是从更广泛的方面评估的，包括动物福利和义务。参与者报告了在减轻与单独处理牲畜相关的风险时使用认知非技术技能。

通过改变安全信息来捕捉农民的优先事项，农业组织可以鼓励规避风险，尤其是在涉及压力或疲劳的情况下。此外，确定的认知非技术技能可以在现有的农民课程中进行培训。