Farm Safety

2008 Report Starts Farm Safety and Health Week on Sober Note 09/20/2009Andy Eubank
This is National Farm Safety and Health Week and it begins with sobering news from the 2008 Indiana farm fatality report released over the weekend. In 2006 there were just eight farm-work-related fatalities, the lowest number ever recorded. But the number jumped to 24 in 2007 and jumped again last year to 28.Dr. Bill Field, Professor in Agriculture and Biological Engineering at Purdue, said tractors and machinery were the leading fatality causes last year. That’s been the norm the last thirty years. “It’s the single biggest problem out there,” said Field. “Tractor overturns accounts for about 25% percent on average of all the fatalities. So if we’re going to focus our energies on any one particular area, it would be tractor overturns, because we know that’s the single biggest killer.”The most recent census of agriculture shows an increase in small farms, and data over the last few years suggests that a disproportionate share of fatalities is happening in those operations. Field also said there is concern about a growing number of injuries and fatalities across the Midwest from bull attacks. “And I think it’s related to small farm operators who are starting a small beef herd and they end up with a bull or two, and the bull gets a little bigger than they expect. And then we’re seeing some of them causing injuries and property damage, and some of those are not very pleasant because bulls become very aggressive once they start breeding.”Field reminds farmers their most important assets are the employees on the farm, and those employees, “need to be given priority over getting a crop in, or production rates, or trying to achieve some goal as far as timeliness. Once we start pressing people into unrealistic kinds of environments, or having unrealistic expectations for them, they begin to make mistakes and that’s when we see a lot of these things occurring. I think once we realize what the priorities are we’re going to take a lot fewer risks.”
And it’s the time of year for motorists to be prepared to share the road with those who produce our food. Field says, “It’s not a big task. It’s not something that’s going to change your lifestyle if you just move a little bit slower as more equipment gets moved out onto the highway.”The annual report is compiled by the Purdue University Agricultural Safety and Health Program and is viewable online.