Individual and farm determinants of pesticide safety climate in agriculture: a French nationwide survey

Safety climate research in agriculture lags behind that in other industries. We investigated the safety climate and its determinants in French agriculture with a view to the development of targeted safety intervention programs.

We approached farmers during compulsory training and certification procedures for pesticide-related activities. In total, 1411 farmers agreed to participate in this cross-sectional survey and completed a self-administered questionnaire. Multivariate linear regression models with exact best-subset variable selection were used to estimate associations between safety climate scores and sociodemographic and workplace variables.

Two major determinants were identified. Job title was one determinant, with farmworkers reporting a safety climate score 4.73 points higher than that of apprentice/student respondents (p < 10⁻⁶), and farm managers scoring only 1.75 points more than apprentice/student respondents (p < 0.05). The other determinant was the type of production system. Mean scores for individuals working in integrated agriculture systems were 2.39 points higher (p < 10⁻⁴), and scores for those working in organic agriculture were 1.25 points (p = 0.09) higher than the scores of individuals working in conventional systems (the baseline category). Cereal production was associated with low scores for two dimensions (p < 0.01).

Most of these findings can be explained by the high degree of segmentation in agriculture, with farms of small to moderate size managed and operated by owners with little hired help. Practical safety information and training would be particularly beneficial for managers, organic farmers, and cereal growers as it would increase their understanding of and adherence to safe procedures in their everyday activities.