{"id":2280,"date":"2019-09-19T14:13:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T14:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/?p=2280"},"modified":"2025-03-07T18:47:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T18:47:24","slug":"agricultural-production-one-of-indianas-most-hazardous-occupations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/agricultural-production-one-of-indianas-most-hazardous-occupations\/","title":{"rendered":"Agricultural production one of Indiana’s most hazardous occupations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Writer: Abby Leeds, 765-494-7817, mayer36@purdue.edu<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2013 Purdue University\u2019s\nAgricultural Safety and Health Program<\/a> released the annual Indiana Farm\nFatality Summary with Historical Overview, coinciding with the National Farm\nSafety and Health Week, which has been observed the third week of September\nsince 1944. The program reported 34 work-related on-farm deaths in the state in\n2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since data collection began in 1970, annual fatalities have been on the decline, averaging 27.2 over the past ten years. The average age of documented 2018 victims was 48.6 with four being under the age of 18 and sixteen age 60 or older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe fatality data\ncontinues to show a general downward trend that parallels the decline in the\nnumber of farm operations, which has likely contributed more to the reduction\nin farm-related fatalities than any other single factor,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill Field, Purdue Agriculture and Biological Engineering professor\nand extension safety specialist, responded to the report. \u201cWhile it is\nencouraging that the overall work-related on-farm deaths continues to decline,\nthis report emphasizes that farm safety is still a relevant issue and corroborates\nwith the Indiana Department of Labor that classified agriculture as one of\nIndiana\u2019s most hazardous occupations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the total number of fatalities, 44% were tractor\nrelated incidents, representing the fourth highest annual number for the past\n25 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe industry has seen a bloom of small farms possibly\nresulting in more tractor related accidents. Small farms often use older, less\nsafe machinery and are exposed to more hazards compared to larger operations\nusing newer machinery with advanced safety precautions,\u201d said Field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many prepare for a possibly challenging harvest, Field\ncautions farmers to have realistic expectations for the machinery and people\nworking in the fields. He also warned of a higher potential for grain\nentrapment this year as farmers remove crop from storage that may have been too\nwet to store properly last harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program has\nmonitored farm-related fatalities in Indiana for nearly 60 years using sources\nincluding news reports, web searches, personal interviews and voluntary\nreporting from extension educators and individuals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click HERE<\/strong><\/a> to download the full report, or visit www.farmsafety.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer: Abby Leeds, 765-494-7817, mayer36@purdue.edu<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Bill Field, 765-494-1191, <\/em>field@purdue.edu<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edward Sheldon, <\/em>ejsheldo@purdue.edu<\/em><\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writer: Abby Leeds, 765-494-7817, mayer36@purdue.edu WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2013 Purdue University\u2019s Agricultural Safety and Health Program released the annual Indiana Farm Fatality Summary with Historical Overview, coinciding with the National Farm Safety and Health Week, which has been observed the third week of September since 1944. The program reported 34 work-related on-farm deaths in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news_blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2280"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3766,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280\/revisions\/3766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/engineering\/ABE\/INPREPared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}