Have you ever had the “safety talk” with your employees?

As your business ramps up after lockdown, investing in a COVID-19 health and safety policy now can protect your employees and pay dividends for at least the next few months. Following this guide can protect your coworkers and help prevent another lockdown due to an outbreak – it’s mutually beneficial.

Here, we’ll help you translate the CDC and OSHA COVID-19 guidelines into a plan of action that works for your specific situation, whether you’re looking to assess your current policy or create a new one from scratch.

Implementation Tip – Who Writes The Guidelines?

As the supervisor or boss, you are responsible for the safety and health of your employees in the workplace.

• your experience is valuable in creating guidelines that are tailored to your workplace and your needs

       AND

• your credibility is necessary to create a policy everyone can agree on and follow.

If you are unable to write the COVID-19 workplace guidelines yourself, make sure that you are heavily involved in the process and involve individuals who are qualified and experienced in health, safety, and human resources.

 Utility Task Vehicles (UTVs) are common on many farm operations with many uses, attachments and benefits.  They can go by a variety of names such as side by sides (SxSs) and multipurpose recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs) and I'm sure many more.  Many if not all also double as a recreational vehicle with high performance features.  That being said, power and speed are key components of agricultural  injuries and fatalities.

What should you know when having employees operating UTVs in "non-recreational" farm tasks?  

As a safety director, manager, or business owner, do you often feel that it's you against the employees  when it comes to safety? Do you want your employees to feel ownership and responsibility for not just their safety, but for everyone else's? 

This is where the DuPont Bradley Curve is helpful. It's a tool to help businesses shift their employees from following safety protocol because it's what is required, to a place where everyone from the top down is actively participating in the safety culture of the organization. Obviously, anytime someone is practicing safety is a positive, but it's even better if people are following protocol because they have a genuine desire to keep themselves and their coworkers safe. 

There is a lot riding on the correct grade of hitch pin that links the implement to the tractor or truck. In fact, the hitch pin is a critical component in keeping control of implements we pull. More often than not a hitch pin is selected based on its diameter and length. Rarely is strength the top consideration. 

According to Fred Whitford, Purdue University, the bent hitch pins pictured below indicates that somebody got lucky!  A bent pin is a sign you needed something stronger, so pitch them before they get used during harvest because they're handy.  Better yet....pitch them so they never get used again. It may be just fine in the field, however, you open yourself up to much more risk when you take equipment on roadways.  

During busy seasons, farm safety can take a backseat to other business priorities critical to success. However, safety needs to be part of your critical success factor. Just one accident could affect your ag operation personally and financially, especially if it could have been prevented. Plan your pre-harvest training and safety meeting now to set tone for how your agribusiness will operate for the remainder of the year.

When selecting and building a safety training program, it’s largely agreed that a single system is most effective, especially for tracking. While that’s a top priority, we’ve often found 2 other factors that are overlooked when it comes to effective safety training:

December is upon us and it’s time to look at your safety program for 2018. With everything you’ve accomplished in 2017, what is going to move your program forward for 2018? 

When I managed a fast growing company earlier in my career, goal setting made a crucial impact on the success. It forced me to look much further out into the future, envision where the company could go and create how we were going to get there. No matter where you are today with your safety program, moving your program forward is key to lowering workers’ compensation claims, improving employee safety IQ and having active participation in developing safety culture.

 Let’s look at 3 steps to consider when putting the 2018 goals and plans together.

Why would a big corporation’s safety culture model have any relevance to safety in Agriculture?  If you are not familiar with the DuPont Bradley Curve, I strongly suggest learning more about it as it can shape how you think about safety first and its effect on productivity, quality of work, the work environment and profitability. The Bradley Curve shows an evolution of an organization's safety culture. This model allows you to place your organizations' culture along the curve and give insights to the vision of zero injuries. 

Blended Learning refers to the use of a variety of training tools to maximize retention of the material.  It may include a broad range of techniques including pre-knowledge assessments, performance goals,          e-learning, live training, individual training, post-knowledge assessments and virtual or live coaching.