Wisconsin Ag Connection - Specialist: Farm Safety Should be Practiced 365 Days a Year

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Specialist: Farm Safety Should be Practiced 365 Days a Year
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 09/23/2011

Tomorrow may be the final day of National Farm Safety and Health this year, but an agricultural safety specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension says the task of being safe on the farm should last all year long. Cheryl Skjolaas says agricultural workers are being reminded right now to take precautions to prevent farm related injuries and fatalities, especially during the busy harvest season.

"This year's theme, 'Safety Counts-Your Community Depends on It,' emphasizes that farm safety has an impact throughout a farming community," Skjolaas noted. "Whether you're a farmer, member of a farm family, neighbor, safety trainer or emergency responder, if someone is injured or killed on a farm, there are ripples throughout the community."

She said that agriculture ranks as one of the most dangerous industries nationally, but admits that Wisconsin is fortunate to have many individuals involved in a variety of safety and health programs.

"For example the Wisconsin Safe Operation of Tractor and Machinery Certification program involves many dedicated volunteers, high school agricultural instructors, technical college agricultural instructors and University of Wisconsin-Extension staff to provide the 24 hour training program to these young workers," Cheryl said. "I have also taught at several farm rescue trainings and know the involvement of medical and emergency personnel and their interest in being prepared to best respond to agricultural emergencies."

Meanwhile, this past year has brought changes to programming efforts as the U.S. Department of Labor through its Wage and Hour and Occupational Safety and Health Administration increased their regulatory efforts related to agriculture.

"Many agricultural operations have expanded in the past decade and expansion has required more hired labor," explains Skjolaas. "Currently, OSHA has an emphasis program for grain facilities in Region 5 including Wisconsin and has proposed a dairy emphasis program for the state. The Department of Labor has proposed changes to Fair Labor Standards Act and the Hazardous Occupation Order. Right now there's increased interest in understanding regulatory requirements and how to address worker safety by agricultural producers."

Skjolaas says the Agricultural Safety and Health website is a great resource to find information about farm safety. That site can be found at http://fyi.uwex.edu/agsafety

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