Farm safety commands insight, awareness
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FAIRMONT - As the dangers of farming continue to be monitored and incidents happen, awareness of farm safety continues to be an important focus.
Martin County Farm Bureau Vice President Haley Ekstrom said the most common concern regarding farm safety they see is an increase in accidents, especially with younger kids.
"More kids want to be involved on the farm and are around the farm," she said. "They’re still showing that, unfortunately, agriculture ranks as one of the most dangerous professions, and tractor rollovers lead that."
As youth getting involved with farming get younger and younger, Ekstrom said there are some key things they should know.
"Getting first aid certified, CPR certified," she said. "Work with their local FFA chapters to put on some events and bring tractors and say, 'Here’s your PTO, here’s ladder safety, here’s how to hook up equipment safely, and work with that.'"
There are many factors Ekstrom said people should be aware of, especially regarding things that can be taken for granted.
"We do it 100 times and then we get hurt that 101st time," she said. "I think some of those things are wearing high-vis colors, high-vis safety colors, or vests or shirts, wearing those colors so that you stand out. Having kids wear vests and knowing your surroundings, the blind spots on equipment, knowing when to leave equipment running and when not to leave equipment running, especially if you’ve got kids sitting in there. Wearing your seat belts, wearing your helmets, being aware of things like overhead power lines and having fire extinguishers and all your equipment are little things I think that we tend to forget about."
Even then, Ekstrom said there are things that can and can’t be prepared for.
"We can try to prepare for things like fires with fire blankets and fire extinguishers, and remembering to do little things like keeping extinguishers or equipment," she said. "Remembering to unplug things in the shop at the end of the day. Things you can’t ever prepare for are what type of accidents are going to happen or what type of injuries could occur, but make sure maybe you have small things like first aid safety kits in the cab attractors or in combines or in pickups."
In instances where one is alone on the farm, Ekstrom said you should let people know where you are going to be.
"Maybe that’s sharing your location or having your phone on you at all times," she said. "I think a lot of people leave their phone in their pickups or leave their phones in their equipment or maybe in the house. Letting people know where you’re going to be, or saying, 'Hey, I just got to the grain bin and it’s 10 a.m. I should be back to the field by 11 a.m.' Those types of things I don’t think you can ever over communicate."
Martin County Farm Bureau works with the Progressive Agriculture Foundation on farm safety initiatives, including Farm Safety Day at Heritage Acres, which they held Friday, Sept. 18.
"Even though we have more kids that seem to live in suburban areas than rural, I don’t think you can ever preach safety protocols too much," Ekstrom said. "It’s good information for all kids, and this event happens to target fourth graders, but hopefully they’re going home and telling siblings and parents and grandparents."
This year, kids from Fairmont, Truman, GHEC, MCW, St. Paul's Lutheran Truman and Fairmont, St. James Lutheran Northrop and St. John Vianney learned about equipment, grain bin, chemical, pet-animal, firearm, electrical, fire and ATV/lawn mower safety.
The fire safety station was new this year, as was further information on ATV safety, as Ekstrom said there has been a rise in ATV incidents. She said bringing the kids through all these stations helps them make the most of their time.
"The volunteers utilize their time," she said. "They’re finding ways to use their presentation to the full capability they can. And so each volunteer that is presenting on these topics is an expert in that field, in that profession and on that topic. It’s really up to each person to figure out what is the important part of your speech. What is it you want these kids to take home with them to remember?"
Stations utilized visual aids and interactive experiences. The grain bin safety section had a rope that measured how much force was used when pulled on, and compared it to how much force would be needed to pull someone out of a grain bin. The equipment section tested kids on certain areas of the tractor and where it was safe or not safe to stand, as well as blind spots.
Through events like this, Ekstrom said she hopes they make a difference and help save the lives of kids and adults in the agriculture-dominant community of Martin County.
"The hope is that when they’re going and riding with their parents or grandparents they show them we do climb a ladder with three points of contact," she said. "We do put our seatbelts on, and maybe help remind the older generations too of some of those simple safety measures that we tried to teach these kids. Hopefully it’ll help them as they get older. Hopefully just some of these things stick with them and they can use those in their everyday life."