BLS Looks to AgInjuryNews for Quality Assurance
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has begun using AgInjuryNews as part of its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) case discovery quality assurance. In a review of each state’s case discovery process, potential cases are culled from databases and news sources and flagged for follow-up, and many potential cases are now noted from AgInjuryNews, according to Jameson Bair, administrative program specialist, BLS – Occupational Safety & Health, U.S. Department of Labor. Bair said AgInjuryNews is well organized with lots of information pertinent to CFOI workers.

The BLS has supported the AgInjuryNews initiative for several years, said Bryan Weichelt, PhD, project leader. Most recently, the national office has disseminated information about the AgInjuryNews system to its state representatives, solidifying the system as a part of its quality assurance processes. The BLS may now be the most well-represented organization in terms of user registrations on AgInjuryNews.org, Weichelt said. 
This is the second issue of the AgInjuryNews quarterly newsletter. We hope that these will keep our users and collaborators better informed of ongoing initiatives and milestone achievements. As always, if you have any questions, please connect with us.


New Data From New Partners
We are excited to announce our partnership with two key collaborators – the Central States Center for Ag Safety and Health (led by Dr. Risto Rautiainen), and the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention (led by Dr. Wayne Sanderson). Both of these centers are now regularly sending their media monitoring data to our team for inclusion in the AgInjuryNews system. This will improve the quality of all three systems’ data – better serving stakeholders regionally, nationally, and abroad.

Promotional Video Creation Under Way -- Feedback and Input Sought
We continue our commitment to providing quality data and a system that presents it. We’re also hoping to increase its usage, so we need to promote it. If you are interested in providing input or feedback on the content and design of a promo video (or videos), please let us know 

How to Use AgInjuryNews in YOUR Work
We have a brief listing of examples on the website that may be helpful. If you have other examples of how YOU use media reports or AgInjuryNews in your work, please let us know.

Reports Flowing In
We continue to see a steady stream of traumatic ag-related injuries coming in through our collection systems. We have enhanced our internal processes and increased our staffing to accommodate.

Presentations
Dr. Bryan Weichelt recently presented as an invited panelist at the Western Ag Safety & Health Conference in Seattle, WA. The panel, Chaired by Risto Rautiainen, PhD, MS, CS-CASH, University of Nebraska consisted of:

Monitoring Agricultural Injuries from Media Reports
Bryan Weichelt, PhD, MBA, National Farm Medicine Center

Analyses of Agricultural Injury Data from Administrative Databases
Erika Scott, PhD, Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety

Injury and Illness Surveys to Self-employed Farmers and Ranchers
Risto Rautiainen, PhD, MS, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Improving Fatality Surveillance for the US fishing industry
Samantha Case, MPH, NIOSH Western States Division

Bureau of Labor Statistics Injury Surveillance
Marika Litras, PhD, US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Enumeration Methodology. Alice Larson, PhD, Larson Assistance Services

Panel: Smart Surveillance – Developing sustainable, cost-effective systems for the surveillance of injury and illness in agriculture . Panelists composed of previous speakers

The AgInjuryNews initiative has been a welcome addition to several presentations and workshops, including the Child Agricultural Injury Prevention (CAIP) series, which will host a workshop Sept. 17-18 in Hershey, PA. 

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AIN will also be featured in an upcoming AgriSafe webinar focused on Youth Injury Prevention, presented by Melissa Ploeckelman of the National Farm Medicine Center at noon, Sept. 18. Register here.  

Recently Published Peer-Reviewed Manuscripts:
Weichelt B, Heimonen T, Gorucu S, Redmond E, Vechinski J, Pflughoeft K, Bendixsen C, Salzwedel M, Scott E, Namkoong K, Purschwitz M, Rautiainen R, Murphy DJ. Redesigning a Sentinel Surveillance System for Collecting and Disseminating Near Real-Time Agricultural Injury Reports: System Usability Study. JMIR Form Res 2019;3(3):e13621. DOI: 10.2196/13621

Bryan Weichelt, Serap Gorucu, Dennis Murphy, Anita Alves Pena, Marsha Salzwedel & Barbara C. Lee (2019) Agricultural Youth Injuries: A Review of 2015-2017 Cases from U.S. News Media Reports, Journal of Agromedicine, 24:3, 298-308, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2019.1605955

Moses New-Aaron, Jessica Semin, Ellen G Duysen, Murray Madsen, Kelsie Musil & Risto H Rautiainen (2019) Comparison of agricultural injuries reported in the media and census of fatal occupational injuries, Journal of Agromedicine, 24:3, 279-287, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2019.1593276

Child Agricultural Injury Prevention
Children on farms can be dangerous, but in the Child Agricultural Injury Prevention workshops, we will help you identify the benefits of raising children on farms! Come join us in Hershey, PA August 6-7 to learn more! Thank you to our sponsors for making this workshop possible!  https://www.marshfieldresearch.org/CAIP-Workshop_Hershey

The Core Team
Bryan Weichelt PhD, MBA, Associate Research Scientist, NFMC
Emily Redmond 
Research Coordinator & Data Specialist, NFMC
Serap Gorucu PhD,
Penn State University

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This is the second issue of the AgInjuryNews quarterly e-newsletter. To unsubscribe, email nccrahs@marshfieldclinic.org