Reducing agricultural machinery accidents - Expert group analysis and recommendations

Introduction: After decades of declining work-related fatalities, the trend in Denmark has stagnated over the past ten years. Consequently, in 2024, the Ministry of Employment established an Expert Group tasked with investigating the causes of occupational accidents and providing recommendations for prevention. The group included a three-person secretariat, four investigators, two thematic experts, and four experts in accidents and prevention. In 2024, the group focused on serious occupational accidents involving machinery in the agricultural sector, which accounted for 24 of the 48 fatal accidents in the agricultural sector over the past decade.

Methods: The group carried out in-depth investigations of 17 occupational accidents with large agricultural machines using the Accident Mapping (Accimap) method, plotting actors and contributing factors at six levels from the societal (international and national), authority, branch and employer levels, to the process and events surrounding the accidents. Recommendations for prevention were drafted based on e.g.: a) the principles of the hierarchy of controls, b) Initiatives that can be targeted to specific areas, such as selected machinery, where challenges exist and c) initiatives based on well-known practices.

Results: The AcciMap analyses identified three primary contributing factors: (a), (b) and (c). Based on these findings, three broad recommendations were formulated, focusing on: (1), (2), and (3). The recommendations should be viewed as a comprehensive package, where the implementation of all three is necessary to achieve the desired preventive effect. (**Please note that the precise details about the recommendations are first available upon the publishing of the report to the minister in April 2025 – after which we will gladly revise the abstract with precise details.)

Conclusions: The Expert Group's recommendations were submitted to the Minister of Employment in April 2025. It is now crucial for industry stakeholders to collaborate with authorities and other relevant parties to implement the recommendations.