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To investigate patterns of use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce pesticide exposure in a sample of Australian farmers and also to assess the influence of possible predictive factors.

A cross-sectional survey of 1102 farmers recruited through the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) was conducted. A written questionnaire was filled out by participants at VFF meetings attended by a visiting research assistant. Participants answered questions about frequency of pesticide use and PPE items they usually used when doing two different pesticide-related tasks, mixing and application, of each of four classes of pesticides. They also answered questions about personal characteristics, farm characteristics, farming activities, career and health.

Nearly all surveyed farmers had ever used pesticides, and over 87% had used Herbicides or Animal Health Products in the previous 12 months …