Last Week was National Farm Safety and Health Week

The week of Sept 20-26, 2020, was National Farm Safety and Health Week, and it serves as a good reminder for all farm operations to do a self-evaluation of their safety protocols and practices. According to the CDC, agriculture ranks as one of hazardous industries. Owners, family members (including children and the elderly), and farmworkers are at a high risk of accident resulting in injury or even death. While it may be easy to get complacent about the daily risks of farming as most farmers grew up on a farm and have been working there all their lives, it’s always good to take a step back and make sure your SOPs and practices are in place and up to date, and all workers have received adequate on-the-job training that includes safety training. Further precautions should be taken if you have any youth working on the farm, or you offer tours to schools and the public.

 

There are some resources available to help ensure you are prepared and up to date on your safety protocols and practices.

  1. New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH): They offer manuals and resources online, as well as on-farm safety surveys and on-farm safety training.
    https://www.nycamh.org/programs-and-services/farm-safety-trainings.php
  2. Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest: They offer online training in farm safety in both English and Spanish.
    https://hwc.public-health.uiowa.edu/protecting-young-ag-workers/
  3. The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety: This site has some YouTube videos and free webinars about on-farm safety practices for specific areas (ie: tractor safety, PTO safety, farm road safety, emergency preparedness, etc…).
    https://www.necasag.org/nationalfarmsafetyandhealthweek/
  4. Occupational Safety and Health Administration: This site has info and resources on a variety of on-farm safety topics as well as information on workers’ rights regarding on-farm safety.
    https://www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/agriculturaloperations/index.html