DairyNZ Ltd., PO Box 85066, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
DairyNZ Ltd., Private Bag 3221, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
J Dairy Sci. 2021 Jan;104(1):419-430. doi: 10.3168/jds.2020-18954. Epub 2020 Nov 12.
One aspect of a successful dairy business is attracting and retaining skilled staff. The ability to do this is influenced by workplace attractiveness, one aspect of which is worker comfort and safety. Working with heavy machinery and animals makes dairy farming a dangerous occupation relative to many other sectors. Milking is the most time-consuming task on pasture-based dairy farms, and the parlor is the logical site of a number of injuries, although little is known about their causes or their relationship to parlor design and management. To investigate worker safety further, we conducted an on-farm survey on New Zealand dairy farms between December 2018 and March 2019. The survey had 3 objectives: to identify common causes of injuries relating to milking; to describe variations in milking parlor design and management practices on dairy farms; and to identify management and parlor factors that contribute to milking injuries. Analysis of accident compensation data from the state-run accident insurer for a 5-yr period from July 2013 to June 2018 was a fourth objective. Accident claims identified as related to milking through a key word search averaged NZ$252 (NZ$1 was equivalent to US$0.60 on May 19, 2020) per claim for non-severe injuries and NZ$9,334 per claim for severe injuries, for a total of NZ$1.95 million per year. A total of 136 injuries were reported on 99 of the 560 farms surveyed, and accident insurance claims were made for 53 of these injuries. The survey found that 48% of injuries occurred while workers were attaching clusters: typically soft-tissue and fracture injuries to fingers, hands, wrists, and arms. Injuries to these body parts represented the greatest cost (51% of the annual insurance cost) and identified safe cluster attachment as an area of focus for reducing milking injuries. Potential low-cost solutions include improved cluster design and a hand-arm guard. We identified a clear seasonal trend that coincided with busy periods in a seasonal block calving system, suggesting that options to reduce fatigue in spring may be beneficial; however, the number of hours worked or number of consecutive days worked were not associated with the number of milking injuries. Those aged 20-29 yr had more injuries relative to their proportion of the workforce, indicating that more training may be beneficial (e.g., setting ergonomic milking routines). Female workers were at greater risk of injury than males; this finding may have been related to the height of the animal relative to the height of the milker.
成功的奶牛养殖业务的一个方面是吸引和留住熟练的员工。能否做到这一点受到工作场所吸引力的影响，其中一个方面是工人的舒适和安全。与许多其他行业相比，使用重型机械和动物使奶牛养殖成为一项危险的职业。挤奶是牧场奶牛场最耗时的任务，挤奶厅是许多伤害的发生地，尽管人们对这些伤害的原因及其与挤奶厅设计和管理的关系知之甚少。为了进一步调查工人的安全问题，我们于 2018 年 12 月至 2019 年 3 月在新西兰奶牛场进行了一项农场调查。该调查有 3 个目标：确定与挤奶有关的常见伤害原因；描述奶牛场挤奶厅设计和管理实践的变化；并确定有助于挤奶伤害的管理和挤奶厅因素。对 2013 年 7 月至 2018 年 6 月期间由国有事故保险公司记录的事故补偿数据进行分析是第四个目标。通过关键字搜索确定与挤奶相关的事故索赔平均为每个非严重伤害索赔 NZ$252（2020 年 5 月 19 日，1 新西兰元相当于 0.60 美元），每个严重伤害索赔 NZ$9,334，每年总计 NZ$195 万。在接受调查的 560 个农场中的 99 个农场报告了 136 起伤害事故，其中 53 起事故提出了事故保险索赔。调查发现，48%的伤害发生在工人连接奶杯时：通常是手指、手、手腕和手臂的软组织和骨折伤害。这些身体部位的伤害造成的损失最大（占年度保险费用的 51%），并确定安全的奶杯连接是减少挤奶伤害的重点领域。潜在的低成本解决方案包括改进奶杯设计和手臂保护装置。我们发现了一个明显的季节性趋势，与季节性分群产犊系统的繁忙时期相吻合，这表明减少春季疲劳的方法可能会有所帮助；然而，工作时间或连续工作天数与挤奶伤害次数无关。20-29 岁的工人受伤比例高于其在劳动力中的比例，这表明更多的培训可能会有所帮助（例如，制定符合人体工程学的挤奶程序）。女性工人受伤的风险高于男性；这一发现可能与动物相对于挤奶工的高度有关。
