Notes on Preplanning for Safety

Maintain a safety attitude. Be your own safety director. Assess risks on your own farm.

Don’t wait for an accident to happen. Here are five things to make part of your everyday routine:

1. Focus on the present task. How well are you concentrating? Boredom or exhaustion can lead to slips.
2. Take time to do the job right. It takes a little longer to put on the extra protective equipment, but it may prevent a painful injury. Are you managing your time well? Make a list, number the jobs most important to least important. This way you will know you are doing the most important things and are less likely to rush.
3. Have the strength to do what is right. Don’t get caught up in taking shortcuts or fooling around.
4. Take responsibility even when a certain task "isn’t your job." Care about yourself and others. Be part of the team.
5. There’s no way to avoid ALL risks, but you can weigh the risks of doing a job in a certain way. Even if there is a one in a thousand risk, it’s not worth it.

Be Your Own Safety Director

Since farmers are their own bosses, they also must be their own safety directors. The agriculture safety record of the 1990s could be greatly improved if farmers would take less risks. The National Safety Council recommends the following tips to help reduce risks on farms and ranches:

• Make accident prevention a management goal. Realize that you are responsible for safety and health instruction.
• Reduce your risk of injury and illness with prevention. Read and follow instructions in operator’s manuals and product labels and use personal protective equipment,
• Conduct routine hazard checks of equipment, buildings and grounds. Correct problems immediately, and avoid hazards that can’t be eliminated.
• Instruct employees and family workers on the proper way to do their jobs and to take care of their health, both on and off the job.
• Do what is necessary to protect children, the elderly and others in your care.
• Prepare for each activity. Keep fit, respect your limitations and seek proper care for health problems.

How to Assess Risks

Here are four questions that can help you assess the risks on your farm.

1. What are the hazards?
2. Who’s at risk?
3. What are the current preventative measures?
4. Can anything further be done?

Publication #: 2364

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