The news about rollover protective structures: Findings from an analysis of news from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri

The news about rollover protective structures: Findings from an analysis of news from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri

Rollover protective structures (ROPS) can prevent fatal tractor overturns, a leading cause of death among farmers. Despite proven success, ROPS — and programs to make them more widely available to farmers — are all but absent from news coverage in key agricultural states, a news analysis, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, found. This represents a missed opportunity to demonstrate to policymakers the importance of establishing and maintaining funding to prevent the most frequent cause of death on farms. Without an increase in ROPS utilization and improved access to prevention programs, farmers, especially low-income farmers, will remain at disproportionate risk for death and injury.

Authors: Sarah B. Perez-Sanz, Kim Garcia, Pamela Mejia, Lori Dorfman, Jessica Echard, Julie A. Sorensen, Pamela J. Milkovich

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23490