Farm Safety

It's National Farm Safety & Health Week!
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 09/22/2008

The fall harvest is a busy time around the farm, but it's also one of the deadliest. That's why the National Safety Council holds National Farm Safety and Health Week each September. According to state and federal health officials, agriculture is still one of the most dangerous industries in the country. About 28 of every 100,000 farmers and their employees died of work injuries in 2006. Five years ago, the death rate from work injuries was 30 per 100,000 farmers. Out of this same 100,000 farmers, 6,000 were injured on the job that same year.

Cheryl Skjolaas, an agricultural safety specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Extension, says the forage harvesting starts in June and continues through November when the last of the grains are harvested. But with the hectic schedules that many farmers have, their knowledge of safety precautions are often forgotten while working in the fields.

Meanwhile, one of the themes the Council is focusing on this year is safety on the roadways.

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Farm safety is something all producers need to be aware of. Most of us have probably been in situations that we look back on and wonder how we didn’t get hurt doing what we did. It’s easy to get in a hurry and it only takes a second for something to happen. Hopefully Farm Safety Week will remind all of us to take the time to be safe.