A group of seven politicians from Upstate New York and representing more than 90 percent of the state’s dairy farms want the government to delay plans for random inspections at farms in the Empire State.
The surprise inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which the agency wants to start conducting in July, could result in fines to small dairies that lack the resources to make improvements on short notice, according toa report by Mark Weiner in The Post-Standard. The delay would allow more time for farmers to prepare for the inspections."Having run a business for 30 years and having spent many summers growing up on a Herkimer County dairy farm, two things are very clear to me," U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna said in a statement on his webpage.
"The first is that no one cares more about a safe workplace more than farmers and business owners themselves. The other is that because OSHA fines immediately, these inspections can have a severe impact on small businesses operating on tight margins."
OSHA wants to begin the random inspections, however, because of the high number of accidents and injuries in the dairy industry. Several on-farm accidents and fatalities have occurred in the state over the past couple of years, Christopher Adams, OSHA Syracuse director, told the newspaper in November.
The agency’s New York inspection program is modeled after one in Wisconsin.
New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton said he agrees with a delay. “New York’s dairy farmers care deeply about providing a safe environment for their employees, family members and themselves,” Norton is quoted on Hanna's webpage.
“While we have been working proactively with OSHA on the future inspections, it is imperative that our farms have the time and resources to meet the new demands placed on their businesses. We greatly appreciate the New York Representatives looking into these concerns to find a workable solution that will help our farms implement additional safety protocols while also supporting a critical sector of the state’s rural economy.”
Click here to find resources available to help dairy farmers prepare for OSHA inspections.
According to OSHA, farms that could face surprise inspections are those that employ 11 or more people or have a temporary labor camp, reads the news report. House members, led by Hanna, asked OSHA to clarify its definition of temporary farm workers. PD
—Summarized by PD staff from cited sources
