Monday, September 15, 2014

Farm Safety and Health Week begins Sept. 21; farming is the most dangerous profession

National Farm Safety and Health Week, observed since 1944, runs from Sept. 21-27, and this year's theme is “Safety Counts—Protecting What Matters,” says a press release from the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety, which offers a list of resources for story ideas.

The U.S. Agricultural Centers' YouTube channel "features more than 40 videos available for Extension agents/educators, agricultural science teachers, producers/owner/operators, first responders and agricultural families," says Wisconsin Ag Connection.

Agriculture has the highest rate of fatalities of any profession in the U.S., reports the Times-News in Twin Falls, Idaho. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013, "fatalities decreased 6 percent to 479, the third straight year of declines. However, the sector’s injury rate was 22.2 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers in 2013, far ahead of transportation (13.1/100,000) and mining (12.3/100,000)."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Agriculture also has one of the highest rates of hearing loss. Nebraska's a major farm state and Nebraska Public TV did a report that said %78 (percent) or more farmers had hearing loss! The Agriculture Industry has successfully lobbied for 20 years or more for small farms to be exempt from OSHA regulations.With the closing of U.S. EPA's noise office over 30 years ago www.nonoise.org/library/shapiro/shapiro.htm things probably got (much)worse: Officials, law enforcement and the public are no longer being educated about the harms of noise, noise laws are no longer enforced in the U.S., labeling of products for noise emissions and a buy quiet campaign never happened, funding for state and local noise abatement programs disappeared, etc.