Purdue News

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: National Farm Safety and Health Week is Sept. 20-26. More information about the week is available at the National Safety Council's Web site. September 18, 1998 Farmers need a pesticide safety plan, expert says WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Everyone knows to put out small fires before they become infernos. For farmers who use fertilizers and pesticides, a chemical accident is analogous to a small fire -- if it's not handled properly, and with haste, it could develop into a catastrophe. Fred Whitford, coordinator of the Purdue University Pesticide Program, said a well-developed pesticide plan is the first step in preventing such a catastrophe. "In agriculture we have to make the assumption that something terrible could happen to us. It could take a lot of forms -- fire, tornado, injury. In agriculture the rate for all of these is pretty high. Those are real numbers, not a maybe," Whitford said. "To handle these problems, we need a plan of attack so that we have the information we need at our fingertips." Whitford said farmers should write such a plan because they need it, not because regulations force them to. "If you're doing it because regulatory people tell you to, don't do it, because all you'll do is generate paper," he said. "You're doing it to protect your family, to protect the land and water, to protect your investment, to protect your friends at the fire department and the hospital, and to protect yourself against financial penalties. That last item is listed last, where it should be." Whitford said a good pesticide safety plan should include these items: Directions to your farm. These directions should be on index cards next to each phone, Whitford said. "In an emergency, you never know who might be making the call for help. It might be a temporary worker who wasn't paying attention to the location of the farm while he was being driven out there, it might be someone driving by who noticed a problem, or it could be a family member who is so hysterical that they are unable to think clearly," he said. "The directions need to be written out according to current street numbers and roads. Leave off things such as the old schoolhouse that used to be there and other landmarks that many people who don't live in your neighborhood won't recognize. Use markers that people will understand when they look at a map. "When we need emergency personnel, the quicker we get the people out there, the more opportunity they have to practice their trade and to save lives and property." Chemical inventory. The next essential part of a pesticide safety plan is a chemical inventory. "This should be taken twice a year, during months with highest inventory, perhaps in winter or spring, and again during months with lowest inventory, probably during the early fall," Whitford said. "That allows people to see if they're dealing with large or small quantities. And the chemicals should be consolidated into one building." Site layout. The first item on the environmental cleanup portion of the emergency plan is a site layout, Whitford said. "That's nothing more than getting a piece of typing paper and drawing the farm out," he said. A site layout should include water flows across the surface, plus ditches and rivers on the site; the names of buildings and the types of materials in those buildings, including bulk tanks and mini-bulk tanks; the location of above-ground fuel and anhydrous tanks; the location of tile drains and wells; and any other information that would allow the responders to take the right kind of action. Response for medical emergencies. Whitford said farmers should consider adding copies of the material safety data sheet (MSDS) for each of the chemicals on their farm. The sheets contain phone numbers of medical experts who are trained to deal with problems with that particular chemical. "They've already seen your kind of emergency over and over," he said. "They can deal with livestock and pets, they can direct your efforts, or they can be in contact with your local people." Whitford said many farmers aren't familiar with the material safety data sheets because they are required on site only if a farm has more than 10 full-time employees. "The MSDS is basically the bible for the responders. It's where the manufacturer has told them how to react to the emergency," he said. List of relevant phone numbers. These might include police and fire department(s); your county's sheriff and emergency planning committee; emergency medical services, such as a medical facility or ambulance service; your chemical, anhydrous ammonia and propane dealers; the electrical utility; the Indiana poison control center; and various contractors who can provide a backhoe or bulldozer, or who will deliver sand. Once the plan is written, Whitford suggested that one copy should go in the farm truck, one in the house, one in the shop, and finally and perhaps most importantly, one in a PVC tube or mailbox in a location where it wouldn't be likely to be damaged in an emergency but would still be highly visible to emergency responders. "Many farmers place it on a mailbox post out by the barn," Whitford said. "After you've placed a copy in all of these locations, you might want to deliver a copy to local agencies, such as fire departments, that might be responding to emergencies at your farm. Many people you'd be dealing with in an emergency are deadly afraid of pesticides, fuels and chemicals, and you need to try to ease that fear to ensure a prompt response." Source: Fred Whitford, (765) 494-1284; e-mail, whitford@btny.purdue.edu Writer: Steve Tally, (765) 494-9809; e-mail, tally@aes.purdue.edu; Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page