Not only do farm accidents have a direct impact in the physical and emotional toll on the individuals involved but also an indirect effect in a loss of profits for the farm business. Mary Bauer, a compliance assistance specialist for the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA), posed the question, “Do you have a good safety program or are you just lucky?”
She urged a room full of farm operators at the Midwest Forage Symposium, held this January in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, to be proactive instead of reactive to accidents.
OSHA’s initiative is to establish a required safety and health program for all employers, whether it is agricultural, production or manufacturing.
The Injury and Illness Prevention Program proposed by OSHA has the following six core elements:
1.Management leadership
As with any part of a business, management sets the tone for safety on the farm. A proper safety program is not just paperwork to sit on the shelf.
“If it’s not a living document or living procedure, it’s meaningless,” Bauer said. “You could have a very loose program as long as it is very viable, very dynamic and flexible.”
2.Worker participation
Having employee input is valuable because many times the employees work on their own without supervision and are the eyes and ears on the job site.
Maintaining safety efforts with seasonal employees can be more difficult because there is a different set of employees each year. However, Bauer suggested talking with employees at the end of each season, making notes and understanding the difficulties that will need to be addressed before the next season.
3.Hazard identificationand assessment
A hazard is an existing or potential condition that alone or interacting with other factors can cause harm, whereas safety is the judgment of acceptable risk.
As owners, as people, as a society, we decide what is acceptable, Bauer said, citing examples in football and NASCAR. “There are some levels of risk we accept, and some levels of safety we accept,” she said.
For every situation, the risk and reward must be analyzed. Is it worth pushing the next load in the dark, adverse conditions, or is it something that can wait?
Bauer said there will be times to have to deal with a situation in adverse conditions. For instance, when a piece of equipment is broken down on the roadside. However, if the equipment is broken down in a field, where the urgency of the situation may not be a factor, waiting until the next day with better conditions might be the safer option.
People don’t always understand the magnitude of a situation, she said. People are just flesh, skin and bones, and too often misperceive how fast equipment can move and how much force it has.
One way to assess hazard risk is to note the frequency of the occurrence and how hazardous the situation. This method, used by the military, helps a person see where preventative measures need to be implemented. If the risk is high and the situation occurs often, precautions should be taken. However, if the risk is minor and the occurrence isn’t likely to happen, you don’t have to do a lot.
4.Hazard prevention and control
There are several ways to control hazards, some more effective than others. Here is a list Bauer shared of control mechanisms, ordered from most to least effective.
- Elimination – “If you are not there, you can’t get hurt. It’s that simple,” she said. For example, if the job is to go inside a pit, don’t go inside. Find something like a mechanical device to go in instead. Improve the process to eliminate the need to do the task or do the task in a manner that doesn’t put a person at risk.
- Substitution – Substitute a less hazardous material. For instance, chemicals used in the field or in footbaths now have options that are not as hazardous to handle.
- Engineering – Design ventilation systems or machine safeguards to reduce the risk.
- Warnings – Use signs, backup alarms, smoke detectors, fluorescent vests, horns and labels as alert methods.
- Administrative – Implement procedures and training to teach the proper way to do something. Since there is an opportunity for miscommunication, this method is less effective than those previously mentioned.
- Personal protective equipment – Wear safety glasses, hearing protection, face shields, respirators, gloves and harnesses. These can be cumbersome and don’t always fit well. Because people can opt out of wearing it, this method is not very effective at reducing risk, she said.
Under OSHA policy, a citation can be issued to everyone involved including, but not limited to, the person who created the hazardous situation, the employee involved, the person who was to ensure it was safe and the owner of the property. Beyond the control methods, Bauer provided a number of approaches to use in preventing hazards.
Performing a job site survey is one way to be proactive in hazard prevention. Walk around the job site and keep an eye out for OSHA’s Focus 4, which include fall, struck-by, caught-in-between and electrical. These categories are the easiest to troubleshoot and improve.
Preventative and predictive maintenance is another way to prevent hazards. If the owner’s manual recommends changing the oil, changing the tires, etc., at a certain mile or hour of use, that is saying from the manufacturer’s experience that those items will fail at a certain point. The recommendation is to change it before it fails, Bauer said.
Anticipate the unexpected. Bad things will happen, but they will go better if there is a plan in place to deal with them. Equipment will get stuck in a field at some point, Bauer said. Have a plan and tools at the ready to be able to respond as safely as possible.
Take time to assess the situation before acting. Look at all aspects before work begins. When equipment breaks down, know that many times the operator is not a mechanic. Those are two different skill sets, and understanding the limitations can help prevent an accident from happening. A situation is never too urgent to short-cut safety and assessment, Bauer said.
Performing a job safety analysis is a way of managing upsets or regular conditions. This analysis defines what has to happen for each part of the job. Once the task is broken down, identify and target the items to which there is a hazard connected to it and develop methods to prevent or protect against the hazard. “These are very tedious and sometimes get set on the back of a shelf,” Bauer said, “but it’s something to keep in mind.”
Before you buy something – a piece of equipment or new chemical – ask and evaluate the safety concerns. “Don’t buy into something that’s going to cause you more problems down the line,” Bauer said.
Inspection programs can be an effective method as long as they are not just pencil-whipping. Make sure these are things that actually need to be checked. It also helps to add a column where a number or written answer is required, not just a checkmark.
If a safety concern is reported, make sure there is follow-up so that the employee knows the concern was taken seriously and that there is a plan in action. This item should be tracked to completion. It doesn’t hurt to take photos of before and after either.
5.Education and training
Safety should be a core value in any operation. Owners and managers need to lead by example and set expectations for safety.
“If you let it slide, that’s what [your employees] think is the expectation,” Bauer said.
Holding a toolbox talk or pre-job discussion reviewing the project is one way to bring up any concerns or issues that need to be addressed.
When it comes to equipment, demonstrate and evaluate proper operation. If there is a second seat, ride along for half of a day. Look for the comfort factor in what they are doing: Are they comfortable, confident or overconfident?
“If they’re not asking any questions, they don’t know where to start,” Bauer said, indicating they are a very inexperienced operator.
Utilizing a four-step training process – tell them, show them, involve them, coach them – will result in the highest comprehension of the task. Bauer said if you just tell someone something, the retention is only 20 percent. However, as you move through the steps, the ability to remember and repeat increases.
6.Program evaluationand improvement
To ensure you have a good safety plan, talk the plan through, go out and execute the plan, make sure it worked, and then repeat the steps again from the beginning.
“People repeat the same mistake because they don’t take the time to evaluate and change the plan. Make mental notes and write it down so next time you don’t make the same mistake,” Bauer said.
The goal should be for continuous improvement and focus on safety efforts and accident prevention. With a good attitude toward safety, there will be more employee buy-in.
Ignoring poor safety by not saying anything or letting poor behavior slide is giving silent consent. Employees will likely repeat that behavior until it is corrected.
Take the steps necessary to be proactive instead of reactive to hazardous situations on the farm. Doing so will keep an operation safer and more efficient. PD
Karen Lee
Editor
Progressive Dairyman
