Purdue News
Purdue News
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May 28, 2004 Specialist: Play it safe on the farm or pay in more ways than oneWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – What some farmers don't know could hurt them, both physically and financially. Farms employing more than 10 people are subject to federal workplace safety regulations. Farm operators can plead ignorance, but it won't help them avoid a possible fine from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), said Gail Deboy, a Purdue University farm safety specialist. In June, Deboy will lead two free workshops on farm safety and OSHA compliance. Farm Safety Training and How to Reduce Risks of OSHA Citations and Injury Lawsuits takes place June 7 at Throckmorton-Purdue Agricultural Center near Lafayette, Ind., and June 16 at the Southwest-Purdue Agricultural Center near Vincennes, Ind. The workshops run from 1-4 p.m. "Many farms have increased in size and have 11 or more employees and are required to meet OSHA regulations," Deboy said. "Unfortunately, many farmers and farm managers may not know that. A farm manager attending these workshops, sending employees and documenting that they attended, can go a long way toward showing a good faith effort on safety in their farm operation. That could help reduce OSHA citations and their degree of negligence in a civil lawsuit." The agriculture industry has changed dramatically since Congress enacted the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1970. For example, when the law was passed, fewer than 100 Indiana farms employed 11 workers. Within a few decades that number swelled to about 850 Hoosier farms, according to preliminary data from the 2002 Census of Agriculture. Common OSHA violations include improperly grounded electrical wiring, inadequate respiratory protection, missing or damaged farm machinery guards, incomplete injury logs and failure to train employees about hazardous chemicals. Citations often carry fines of $5,000 or more. "In Indiana we do not see many large citations from OSHA," Deboy said. "The big risk to farmers in Indiana is not an OSHA inspection and a large fine, it is litigation. Our society has become very litigious. When there is an injury or death, litigation often follows. There are huge million-dollar awards that come from those lawsuits. "Many farmers will say, 'Well, that's what I've got insurance for. I guess I don't have to worry about that.' But if your insurance company pays a million-dollar award for a death on your farm, how easy do you think it's going to be for you to get insurance to continue your operation? It may put you out of business, because you can't afford to stay in business without insurance." Farm machinery safety heads the list of workshop topics, Deboy said. "We'll be covering a lot of topics, in particular those that OSHA requires tractor operators and machinery operators to be trained in every year," he said. "Tractors are involved in at least 50 percent of the fatalities on farms each year. At least half of those fatalities involve tractor rollovers. OSHA requires that all tractors over 20 horsepower used in agriculture have a rollover protection system (ROPS) and a seat belt. If the seat belt and ROPS is in place on the tractor, about 95 percent of the time there will be little or no injury in the event of an accident." Other workshop topics include: farm injury statistics, ladder safety, first aid, OSHA "right-to-know" training for hazardous materials, hearing protection, heat stress and skin cancer, and disaster preparedness. Registration is limited to 60 people at the Throckmorton-Purdue Ag Center workshop and 40 people at the Southwest-Purdue Ag Center (SWPAC) workshop. To register for the Throckmorton program, call Purdue Extension Tippecanoe County at (765) 474-0793; registration for the SWPAC workshop can be made by calling Purdue Extension Knox County at (812) 882-3509. Throckmorton is seven miles south of Lafayette on U.S. 231. SWPAC is three miles north of Vincennes off U.S. 41. Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu Source: Gail Deboy, (765) 496-2377, deboy@ecn.purdue.edu Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722; Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu Related Web sites:
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