Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing, Bassett Healthcare Network Research Institute, Cooperstown, New York, USA.
Department of Agricultural Economics, Penn State Center for Economic and Community Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
J Agric Saf Health. 2021 Oct 21;27(4):205-214. doi: 10.13031/jash.14575.
This article describes a cost assessment of a PTO driveline shielding intervention. Considerations for effective occupational safety interventions beyond reductions in injuries or fatalities are described. The financial viability of combining various on-farm services to reduce intervention costs is discussed.
PTO entanglements are a primary injury concern on U.S. farms, affecting adults and children. These events often lead to severe injury and permanent disability but can be prevented with proper use of PTO shielding. A promising strategy for increasing PTO shielding on farms has been the introduction of user-friendly shielding options by qualified safety specialists. This study looks at the cost-effectiveness of this approach. The cost-effectiveness of this PTO shielding strategy was calculated based on program-related costs, the PTO shield cost, the lifespan of PTO shields, and the number of PTO shields needed to prevent an entanglement. The cost per entanglement prevented was then calculated by dividing the total costs by the number of entanglements prevented in several cost-estimate scenarios. Costs were adjusted for inflation to 2019 dollars. Costs per entanglement prevented ranged from a low of $921,544 (assuming a 10-year PTO lifespan and using 12,487 as the number needed to treat, i.e., to prevent a PTO entanglement, referred to as the NNT) to a high of $18,583,492 (assuming a three-year PTO lifespan and 67,119 as the NNT). The cost per entanglement prevented at the median PTO lifespan of five years and median NNT of 39,802 was $6,612,244. Based on our estimates, the cost-efficacy of increasing PTO shielding using qualified safety specialists differs widely based on the shield lifespan and the number of shields needed to avoid one entanglement. However, if the cost of introducing PTO shields in on-farm visits is coupled with other on-farm services that defray these costs, then the cost-efficacy increases considerably.
本文描述了对动力输出轴（PTO）驱动轴护套干预措施的成本评估。介绍了除减少伤害或死亡外，有效职业安全干预措施的考虑因素。讨论了通过结合各种农场服务来降低干预成本的财务可行性。
在美国农场，动力输出轴（PTO）缠绕是主要的伤害关注点，影响成年人和儿童。这些事件通常会导致严重伤害和永久性残疾，但通过正确使用 PTO 护套可以预防。引入由合格安全专家提供的用户友好型护套选项，是提高农场 PTO 护套使用率的一种有前途的策略。本研究着眼于这种方法的成本效益。根据与计划相关的成本、PTO 护套的成本、PTO 护套的使用寿命以及预防缠绕所需的 PTO 护套数量，计算了这种 PTO 护套策略的成本效益。然后，通过将总费用除以几种成本估算方案中预防的缠绕次数，计算出每预防一次缠绕的成本。将成本调整为 2019 年的通胀水平。每预防一次缠绕的成本从 921,544 美元（假设 PTO 使用寿命为 10 年，使用 12,487 作为需要治疗的数量，即预防 PTO 缠绕的数量，称为 NNT）到 18,583,492 美元（假设 PTO 使用寿命为 3 年，NNT 为 67,119）不等。在 PTO 使用寿命中位数为 5 年和 NNT 中位数为 39,802 的情况下，每预防一次缠绕的成本为 6,612,244 美元。根据我们的估计，使用合格安全专家增加 PTO 护套的成本效益因护套寿命和避免一次缠绕所需的护套数量而有很大差异。但是，如果在农场访问中引入 PTO 护套的成本与其他可以抵消这些成本的农场服务相结合，那么成本效益就会大大提高。
