Farm Safety

The United States started out as an agricultural nation. That, of course, has changed as millions have moved off the farms and into the cities. And while the raw numbers of people on the farm has declined, productivity has soared with fewer and fewer people needed to feed us. What hasn't changed is the number of dangers on the farm.

The last few decades have not seen a change in the number of deaths per 100,000. The rate has held steady at near 50 deaths per 100,000 workers, according to the Department of Labor (DOL). Improving safety in other fields has moved agriculture to the top of the list of dangerous occupations, taking it from third to first in the past 20 years.

The greatest threat to life on the farm is machinery. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says sixty-eight percent of farm related deaths can be traced to some sort of machinery including:

• tractors
• trucks
• equipment such as augers and loaders
• power takeoffs
• haying equipment

The biggest killers are tractors with more than half the deaths the result of tractor accidents, according to OSHA. Over half of those, 57 percent, are the result of rollovers, another 9 percent are the result of people either falling off the tractor and/or getting run over.

There are other factors that contribute to farm dangers. In many cases, emergency medical care is not nearby. Farms are not usually located near hospitals or emergency services. Many accidents also happen in fields, away from roads and easy access. The farmer and his family may also not be trained to handle an emergency.

Prevention a key

The government has moved ahead with regulations that are designed to cut down on injuries and fatalities. All tractors made after October 25, 1976 are required to have rollover protective structures (ROPS) and seat belts, according to the Cooperative Extension Service (CES). While these actions could be expected to save lives, without proper training and attention to safety rules, fatal accidents can and do still happen. CES says most accidents on the farm are the result of mistakes made by people, taking a shortcut, forgetting something, not paying close attention or even ignoring a warning or a safety rule.

Following safe operating instructions would go a long way to limiting farm tractor accidents. CES lists nine safety practices of tractor operation that are part of federal standards. They are:

• Securely fasten the seatbelt if the tractor has one AND a ROPS. Older tractors without ROPS's are not supposed to have seatbelts, allowing the operator to jump free if the tractor rolls.
• Operators should avoid holes, ditches and other embankments.
• Lower speed should be used during turns, crossing slopes or on slippery or muddy terrain.
• Steep slopes require extra care. Go down them slowly. If you have to go up them, go backwards slowly. Avoid going across a slope.
• When pulling equipment be especially careful of rocks, trees and other obstructions.
• Never allow a passenger to ride on the tractor unless there is an extra seat with a seatbelt under the ROPS. Also, do not carry passengers on equipment or in a bucket loader.
• Maintain smooth operation without jerky movements.
• Use correct hitch points to avoid backwards flips.
• Turn the tractor off and set the brakes before getting off.

Education, education, education

All of those rules seem logical enough, but whenever people are on their own and in a rush, they tend to take shortcuts. Constant education on the dangers and the safety rules is imperative. Much of the educational material and the programs are already in place around the country. Most are operated by CES. What is needed is an increased emphasis on following safety programs and providing the education needed. The costs are minuscule for each farm compared to just one fatal injury.

Other health issues

Farmers and farm workers face a number of other health issues, according to OSHA. They include:

• musculoskeletal injuries such as milker's knee among dairy farmers, osteoarthritis of the hip in tractor drivers and various back injuries (Read about "The Knee" "Osteoarthritis" "The Hip" "Back Pain")
• noise induced hearing loss (Read about "Hearing Loss" "Noise and Hearing" "Tinnitus")
• heat stroke (Read about "Heat Stroke")
• respiratory dangers from dust, chemical and animal pollutants and gases generated by manure, silos and engines (Read about "Respiratory System" "Occupational Respiratory Disease" "Asthma")
• skin damage from the sun and chemicals (Read about "Skin Cancer" "Sunscreen")

In addition, farm workers are exposed to many diseases, such as anthrax (Read about "Biological Health Threats"), Lyme disease (Read about "Lyme Disease") and any number of bacteria that can cause disease. (Read about "Microorganisms" "Diarrhea" "Listeriosis" "E. coli" "Salmonella" "Campylobacter" "Giardiasis" "Noroviruses" "Shigellosis" "Cryptosporidiosis" "Rotavirus")

Related Information:

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