If you have a dairy operation in Wisconsin or upstate New York, or a pork production facility in Minnesota, or a feedlot in the plains states, you know that OSHA has been looking at you with greater intensity.  Sources close to the agency tell us that OSHA has focused on the chemical industry, manufacturing and construction over the last 30 years and feel that they now have those industries well-established with clear protocols and robust monitoring.  With Agriculture being the last high-risk industry that they haven’t targeted for significant improvements, it’s only logical that they would go here next.

“Nobody likes getting older, but it’s better than the alternative…” is a phrase that we hear often in regards to aging.  When it comes to safety on the farm, we need to respect the fact that as we age we don’t have the same reflexes, strength, flexibility or agility that we had in years past.  This progresses faster in some people, and slower in others.  We must learn to gauge our own abilities and be realistic in the activities we choose to do—and how we choose to do them.

Many things can happen in an ag business to make it a really bad day, and one of the worst might be a day that OSHA decided to stop by for an unannounced audit.  For some businesses that have regular inspections it may not be a major event, but for most operations it could be an expensive review.

Even though we may be done with harvest, there is still the rush to get fall tillage done, equipment stored, facilities secured for winter and other outdoor activities wrapped up before the snow flies.  We know that the sooner these things are done, the more comfortable we will be when the weather gets unpleasant.

Electrocutions are far too common in agricultural operations, and the push to complete harvest can sometimes cause us to do incomplete repairs or delay repairs that are needed to ensure safety.  Here are a few considerations to protect ourselves and our employees:

When the weather during harvest is good and the crop is ready, it’s hard to stay out of the field if you can run.  As the season progresses, weather delays, equipment problems and other issues that delay harvest can make for long days that stretch the limits of our endurance.  Fatigue can set in, creating an even more hazardous situation around very hazardous equipment.

We need to keep everyone safe during the extended harvest season.  Without adequate sleep we can become irritable, quiet, withdrawn and unfocused.  We can also experience poor memory retention, blurred vision, extended yawning and increased illness due to a compromised immune system.  All these potentially negative outcomes require us to take action to prevent fatigue.

Fires during harvest season are very common and can be caused by a variety of factors.  Though all fires are devastating, fires in the fall have the additional potential of ruining an expensive harvester, burning off a crop that is at full maturity and costly delays to get back to the field.  Some of the most common causes of fires during the harvest season include: 

• Oil and grease mixed with flammable crop residue that has built up around hot engine parts.
• Sparks from exhaust of harvesters, trucks and ATV’s in the field.
• Dry, worn bearings and equipment malfunctions that overheat or cause sparks.
• Hitting rocks or other objects in the field that causes a spark.
• Doing maintenance such as welding, cutting or drilling in a field with dry residue.

Vendors, processors, retailers, lenders and other allied industry in agriculture are requiring more and more audits of our production practices.  One request that is becoming more common is verification that growers and producers of commodities are providing Safety Training to their employees.  Though this is somewhat new to agriculture, these requests are accelerating.  It isn’t just OSHA that is interested in validating your training practices.  These entities see it as another area that they can assure their customers that the food they eat is produced in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly and employee-friendly manner.