Cost-effective Roll-Over Protective Structures

Dr. Stacy Vincent, PI | Dr. Joan Mazur University of Kentucky, Dr. Alex Preston Byrd Clemson University, and Dr. Kang Namkoong University of Maryland

Tractor incidents account for a majority of the injuries and deaths that occur on farms, with tractor overturns being the leading cause of farm operator deaths.

ROPS, combined with safety belts, are 98% effective in preventing tractor operator deaths

In 2014, 38% of the nation’s farm tractors did not have ROPS.
The same year, 12,000 youth (less than 20 years of age) were injured on farms. 4,000 of these injuries were due to farm work.
An average of 133 youth die annually from farm-related injuries.
Approximately 23% of fatal injuries to farm youth involved machinery.
Despite the hazard, many farmers use non-ROPS tractors because of the expense of installation.

The Cost-Effective Rollover Protection System (CROPS) project implements an innovative and practical solution to a persistent agricultural safety problem: Unsafe tractors without rollover-protective systems that cause injury and fatality.

By cultivating sustainable partnerships with agricultural education programs in high poverty, high-risk areas across 10 states in the Southeastern US region, the CROPS project educates the next generation of farmers by increasing awareness of tractor hazards, changing behavioral intention to change unsafe practices, and training them in skills to equip unsafe tractors with Cost-effective Roll Over Protective Systems in their local communities.

The CROPS has five main components:

The CROPS Safety and Installation Curriculum
- Implementation of the NIOSH CROPS Plans
A Summer Teacher Training & Mentoring Institute
Innovative CROPS Technology
- CROPS Peer-to-Peer Customized Mobile App
- CROPS Augmented Reality Instructional Support
Social Media/Crowd Sourcing Sustainability Strategy
CROPS Research and Evaluation

Since its inception in 2014, the CROPS project has installed XX CROPS on unprotected tractors in XX Agricultural Education Programs in 10 states.*