CHILDHOOD AGRICULTURAL INJURY PREVENTION INITIATIVE

Minority Farm Operator Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey (M-CAIS) Results

Technical Information

Data Source & Case Definitions

Data Source

M-CAIS data were collected through an interagency agreement between the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). NIOSH collaborated with NASS to collect data for youth injuries occurring on U.S. farms operated by minorities. Because it is possible for an operator to report being of Hispanic origin and a racial minority on the Census of Agriculture, the Hispanic and racial minority estimates are not mutually exclusive and cannot be combined to produce an overall estimate for minority farm operations.

Sample Design

The M-CAIS sample is between 50,000 and 55,000 farming operations, with all primary minority operators on the Census of Agriculture list contacted for the survey. The M-CAIS is generally conducted the year following the Census, which is conducted every five years, to utilize the most current list of minority farm operators. M-CAIS collected data on minority operated U.S. farms including information on farm characteristics, household demographics, and injuries to youth less than 20 years of age living on, working on, and visiting the farm. Detailed injury information was collected for the four most recent injury events that occurred on a farm.

Case Definitions

Farm – any crop and/or livestock operation with $1,000 or more of gross agricultural production within a calendar year.

Hispanic – operators who self-reported their ethnicity on the most recent Census of Agriculture as Hispanic. Hispanic operators are those who reported their ethnicity as Spanish, Hispanic, or of Latino origin or background (e.g., Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican), regardless of their race.

Injury – any traumatic event occurring on the farm operation resulting in at least 4 hours of restricted activity, or requiring professional medical treatment.

Minority farm operator – operators who self-reported as a racial minority or Hispanic on the most recent Census of Agriculture. Because it is possible for an operator to report being of Hispanic origin and a racial minority the data are broken out by racial minority and Hispanic operated farms. The Hispanic and racial minority estimates are not mutually exclusive and cannot be combined to produce an overall estimate for minority farm operations.

Racial minority – operators who self-reported their race on the Census of Agriculture as Black, Native American/Pacific Islander, Asian, multi-racial, or other self-defined minority races.

Work-injury – any injury that occurred while performing work (paid or unpaid) on the farm that was associated with the farm business, including chores.

Estimates

Demographic Estimates

M-CAIS is designed to produce national and regional estimates of the number of youth less than 20 years of age on U.S. racial minority or Hispanic operated farms by various demographic characteristics. Youth estimates include household youth, hired youth, and visiting youth for the calendar years 2000, 2003, and 2008. Additional demographic data are available for household and hired youth (e.g., age, sex).

Injury Estimates

M-CAIS is designed to produce national and regional estimates of the number of injuries to youth less than 20 years of age on U.S. racial minority and Hispanic operated farms by various injury characteristics. Injury information was collected for all youth less than 20 years of age on farms for the calendar years 2000, 2003, and 2008. This includes youth living on, working on, or visiting the farm. Injury data include information on whether an injury was work-related or not, the nature of the injury, the source of injury, the type of injury event, and the body part injured. Demographic information for all injured youth is also available.

Weighting

For Hispanic operated farms, sampling weights were calculated based on the total number of farms responding by geographical region and the number of farms reported by National Agricultural Statistics Service in the appropriate calendar year for each region. For racial minority operated farms, sampling weights were calculated based on the total number of farms responding by geographical regions for each racial category. The nine geographical regions used are those defined by the US Bureau of the Census. Finally, in 2008 only, weights for both Hispanic and racial minority operated farms were further adjusted based on three farm value of sales categories (< $10,000, $10,000 – $99,999, > $100,000). All estimates for both the injury and demographic data were obtained using the SAS SurveyMeans procedure for a stratified equal probability sample.

Data Elements

Age

Age, in years, as of the last birthday.

Notes – Age groups are inclusive of the years listed in the range. For injury estimates, age is available for all types of injured youth. For demographic estimates age is only available for household and hired youth.

Body Part Affected

The region or part of the body injured.

Farm Type

The type of production self-reported on the most recent Census of Agriculture that represents the largest proportion of gross income for the farm operation.

Injury Type

Respondent-report of the type or nature of injury that occurred (e.g., burn or fracture).

OIICS Event Code

The manner in which the injury was produced or inflicted as coded in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS version 1). The OIICS coding manual is available online from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Notes – The event or exposure is classified in a hierarchical structure with general divisions: contact with objects; falls; bodily reaction and exertion; exposure to harmful substances or environments; transportation accidents; fires and explosions; assaults and violent acts; other events or exposures; and non-classifiable. Each case is coded to the most significant level of detail permitted by using the information abstracted from a narrative.

OIICS Source Code

The object, substance, bodily motion, or exposure which directly produced or inflicted the injury or illness as coded in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS version 1).

Notes – The source is classified in a hierarchical structure with general divisions: chemicals and chemical products; containers; furniture and fixtures; machinery; parts and materials; persons, plants, animals, and minerals; structures and surfaces; tools, instruments, and equipment; vehicles; other sources; and non-classifiable. The injury source is coded in a similar fashion and level of detail as the injury event. However, there are more codes available for source than event because of the diversity of items that could produce an injury.

Region

Geographic regions as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Note – A Census regional map is available at: www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf

Relationship to Farm

The distinction between various relationship(s) an injured person could have to a farm operator. The relationship(s) are grouped as:

• Household: a member of the farm operator’s household (farm operator, his/her spouse, child/step child).
• Visitor: a visiting relative to the farm operation or a non-relative visitor.
• Hired: a paid worker or laborer hired directly by the farm operator.

Note – See also Type of Youth

Sex

The distinction between male and female.

Type Of Youth

Identification of whether the youth lived on, worked on, or was a visitor to the farm.

• All Youth: the sum of all youth categories covered in the survey (i.e., household youth, hired youth, relatives and non-relatives (e.g., visitors)).
• All Working Youth: the combination of working household youth, hired youth, and working relatives.
• Household Youth: a member of the farm operator’s household that is less than 20 years of age.
• Hired Youth: a youth less than 20 years of age who is hired directly by the farm operator and paid for work performed on the farm.

Note – See also Relationship to Farm

Work Status

Whether or not the injury occurred while completing work or chores on the farm.

Youth

Any person under the age of 20 years.

Data Limitations

Disclaimer

Although NIOSH extends considerable effort to insure reasonable data quality for M-CAIS estimates, there are no warranties expressed or implied with these data. The objective of M-CAIS is to provide public access to population, injury, and health information for youth on U.S. farms for use in farm safety and injury prevention activities where understanding the general magnitude of these characteristics are important. Use of these data for other purposes should be done with caution.

Limitations

There are several limitations to the estimates derived from M-CAIS. First, the recall period for an injury in this survey was up to 15 months. While the definition of injury excluded minor injuries, which may be easily forgotten, there is still the possibility that a reportable injury was not remembered by a respondent. A second limitation is that most surveys were conducted with the female head of household, which may have resulted in an under reporting of hired youth injuries, especially for larger farming operations with many employees. Third, there was no way to verify the accuracy or completeness of the responses given in this survey, which could impart some measurement error into the overall results. Fourth, this survey did not include injuries that occurred to young contract farm workers. A fifth limitation is the possibility of a non-response bias. Due to the survey design, it was not possible to make a second contact to farm operators who refused to participate in the survey. This did not allow for a followback questionnaire to assess these refusals. Because it is possible for an operator to report being of Hispanic origin and a racial minority on the Census of Agriculture, the Hispanic and racial minority estimates are not mutually exclusive and cannot be combined to produce an overall estimate for minority farm operations.