Introduction
Although frequently portrayed as idyllic, farming is an
arduous profession. Among the many physical hazards
and stressors are: lifting and carrying heavy loads; work
with the trunk frequently flexed; risk of trips and falls on
slippery and uneven walkways; risk of accidents caused by
the sudden unpredictable actions of livestock; and exposure
to whole-body vibration (WBV) from farm vehicles
and hand-transmitted vibration (HTV) from chain saws
and powered hand-tools. Some insight into the frequency
of such exposures in Britain can be garnered from a survey
of self-reported working conditions, commissioned by
the Health & Safety Executive (HSE; see Table 1) [1], and
from a new analysis we have conducted (Table 2), using
data from a large community survey which characterized
daily physical exposures across a range of occupations
(see below for more details). It may be seen that use of
appreciable force, lifting, digging and shovelling, and