Safety-Critical Manuals for Agricultural Tractor Drivers: A Method to Improve Their Usability

Maurizio Cutini, Giada Forte, Marco Maietta, Maurizio Mazzenga, Simon Mastrangelo and Carlo Bisaglia
Additional contact information
Maurizio Cutini: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing (CREA-IT), via Milano 43, Treviglio 24047, Italy
Giada Forte: Ergoproject Srl, Via Antonio Pacinotti 73/B, Roma 00146, Italy
Marco Maietta: Ergoproject Srl, Via Antonio Pacinotti 73/B, Roma 00146, Italy
Maurizio Mazzenga: Ergoproject Srl, Via Antonio Pacinotti 73/B, Roma 00146, Italy
Simon Mastrangelo: Ergoproject Srl, Via Antonio Pacinotti 73/B, Roma 00146, Italy
Carlo Bisaglia: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing (CREA-IT), via Milano 43, Treviglio 24047, Italy

Agriculture, 2017, vol. 7, issue 8, 1-20

Abstract: This work sets out the planning phases adopted for the first time to put together a manual on injury and accident prevention in the use of farm tractors. The goal is to convey information more effectively than at present, while taking the end users’ opinions into consideration. The manual was devised, created, and tested based on a human-centred design (HCD) process, which identified the operators’ requirements using a participatory ergonomics (PE) strategy. The main topics of the manual were outlined by engaging the users in a qualitative research activity (i.e., focus groups and workshops with final users), and the contents were prioritized and labelled by way of a noun prioritization activity. The users were involved right up to the choice of graphics and print layout in order to orient the publication to the farming context. The research activity highlighted a divergence between the operators’ requirements and the topics currently dealt with in the sector publications. The project resulted in the publication of the “Safe Tractor” manual, which features some innovations. The experience highlighted the need to adopt HCD processes to create innovative editorial products, which can help speed up the dissemination of safety culture in the primary sector.

Keywords: focus group; editorial design; health and safety; usability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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