Ag Safety Awareness Program Week Underway
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I’m Haylie Shipp.
Prepare. Prevent. Protect.
March 7-11 is Ag Safety Awareness Program Week. Why the safety spotlight? Agriculture consistently ranks among the most hazardous industries. The latest numbers from the CDC show that in 2019, 410 farmers and farm workers died from a work-related injury resulting in a fatality rate of 19.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. Transportation incidents were the leading cause of death for these farmers and farm workers.
Austin Grazier is a farm safety specialist. “We get so complacent and so used to being on four wheelers and other types of off-road vehicles,” he says, “that we forget how dangerous it can be.”
It’s one thing to say “be safe.” It’s another to give you some tangible tips. Let’s say you have to call 911. It’s not a good situation. It’s even worse if you don’t know how to communicate where you are.
“A lot of times in these rural areas, there’s not a specific street address. So, to get first responders out there, giving them the specific latitude or longitude can safe a lot of time,” says Grazier.
Have a smart phone? Open up the compass. That information will be clearly displayed.
