— College of Public Health — Departments — Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health — Faculty & Staff — Risto Rautiainen, PhD

Risto Rautiainen, PhD, MS

Professor, UNMC Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health
Director, Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at UNMC

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Risto Rautiainen, PhD, MS, joined UNMC in 2009 and is a professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural & Occupational Health of the UNMC College of Public Health. He is director of the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at UNMC.

Previously, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational & Environmental Health at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he also was deputy director of the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health.

Earlier, he served as a farm safety consultant in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and as head of the Occupational Safety Department of the Farmers Social Insurance Institution in Espoo, Finland.

Education

2002, PhD Occupational & Environmental Health, University of Iowa
1994, Certificate Occupational Health & Safety, University of Manitoba
1986, MS Agriculture, University of Helsinki

Research Interest & Projects

Dr. Rautiainen's research interests include the following: agricultural and occupational health and safety; intervention effectiveness research; injury epidemiology; agricultural safety engineering; health and safety training, education, and outreach; economics of occupational health and safety; and risk management.

Dr. Rautiainen leads or participates in several Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health projects as well as national and international research initiatives in agricultural safety and health.

Selected Publications

Rautiainen R, Lehtola MM, Day LM, Schonstein E, Suutarinen J, Salminen S, Verbeek JH. Interventions for preventing injuries in the agricultural industry. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD006398. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006398.pub2.
Rautiainen, R.H., Ledolter, J., Sprince, N.L., Donham, K.J., Burmeister, L.F., Ohsfeldt, R., Reynolds, S.J., Phillips, K. and Zwerling, C. (2005), Effects of premium discount on workers' compensation claims in agriculture in Finland. Am. J. Ind. Med., 48: 100-109.
Beseler CL, Rautiainen RH. Lack of Agreement between Safety Priorities and Practices in Agricultural Operators: A Challenge for Injury Prevention. Safety. 2022; 8(2):39.
He Bai, Cheryl Beseler, Lorena Baccaglini, Risto Rautiainen (2023) Work-Related Stress as a Risk Factor for Farm Injuries in the Central United States. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health. 29(1): x
Adhikari S, Wilson F, Rautiainen R. Cost of agricultural injuries in the United States: Estimates based on surveillance, insurance, and government statistics. Am J Ind Med. 2024; 1-12. doi:10.1002/ajim.23628

Professional Affiliations

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
International Association for Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH)