Did you know that one in 12 jobs in the United States is dependent on the agriculture industry in some way? According to PayScale, more than 22 million workers were employed in an agriculture-related field in 2018. With contributions of over $100 billion to the US economy, the agriculture industry is a key driver of economic growth in the United States. There over approximately 2 million farms in total in the US, each employing its own family of agriculture workers, laborers, animal breeders, graders, sorters, maintenance workers, animal caretakers, and agriculture inspectors. When we select our produce, we seldom think of those workers who are responsible for the broad selection that we’re greeted with in the grocery store. Time and time again, the farming industry is coined “America’s most dangerous occupation.” Yet, most people are unaware of the humbling statistics that come with the American agriculture industry.
Who is Most Vulnerable?
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the production agriculture industry employed about 2,038,000 workers in 2018. There were 416 recorded farm-related fatalities in 2017, resulting in a rate of 20.4 deaths per 100,000 farm workers. Furthermore, nearly 100 agriculture laborers endure a work-related injury that requires time off. These statistics are serious, troubling, and call for more extensive safety measures to be implemented. Many of the injuries suffered are a result of the isolated nature of working on a farm. Agriculture workers are often required to work alone or in a remote location. Thus, if something goes wrong, the worker does not have any immediate help available. When you add in the fact that farm work often requires the use of heavy machinery in the presence of large animals, the risk of injury or death is magnified.
Identifying Hazards on the Farm
Grain bins pose a significant safety risk. The average time required to rescue a worker from a grain bin can be upwards of 4 hours, resulting in a fatality rate of 62%. It takes only 20 seconds for a grown man to become entirely buried by grain, with the most common cause of death being suffocation, according to the OSHA. After grain bin-related deaths, is electrocution. The National Agricultural Safety Database (NASD) reported that around 62 farmers die each year from severe burns or heart failure as a result of electrocution. Many of these incidents occur because of contact with overhead power lines, which can quickly happen if farm equipment comes in contact. Heavy machinery such as combines and corn pickers have conveyor belts that can be deadly if a worker gets caught. The NASD also reported that ‘virtually every farmer knows of a family member, friend, or neighbor who has been injured in a corn picker.’ Lastly, according to the International Labor Association, tractor rollovers are responsible for more than half of all fatalities that occur on the farm. The heaviness of the tractor, in combination with uneven surfaces, increases the probability of the machine flipping. Even though more modern tractors must have rollover protection systems, more than 50% of the tractors in the US do not.
How to Manage Your Risk: Standard Practices
Due to the potentially deadly consequences of the misuse of farm equipment, agriculture workers must ensure that they are using all equipment safely and carefully. Because many farm workers have been performing similar duties for most of their career, there is a tendency to become complacent. It is crucial that agriculture employees are aware of and alert to their surroundings and environment. Complacency has been denoted the ‘silent killer’ because it results in farm workers performing relatively dangerous tasks without the appropriate level of care. This can result in serious injury, or even death.
Agriculture companies are responsible for ensuring that all staff members are familiar with emergency procedures. Adequate training, clearly marked entry and exit points, open lines of communication, readily available emergency contacts, designated first responders, and regular practicing and testing of emergency protocols will help cultivate a positive safety culture. Clothing is also important: farm workers should avoid wearing loose clothing that could get caught on things. They should also always wear the appropriate protective equipment, as well as high visibility layers when necessary. Gas or diesel engines should never be run in areas that do not have proper air flow and all farming equipment should be subject to regular inspections and maintenance to ensure proper that everything is functioning properly.
Although the safety protocols discussed above should be standard practice for every farming company in the US, they often do not consider the added risk of a worker who is required to perform their day to day duties alone. Agriculture companies should consider implementing a lone worker monitoring system to ensure the safety of their employees who are required to work in isolation on the farm.
Protect Your Workers: A Work Alone Solution
Scatterling is a cloud-based worker safety monitoring solution that works on all your existing devices. It is designed to protect employees who are exposed to both low and high-risk environments, as well as employees who are required to work alone. Check-in timers enable employees to confirm their safety throughout the day. Check-in intervals can be customized based on the risk of the task at hand. More dangerous tasks should be accompanied by more frequent check-in intervals so that employees can confirm their safety more often. For instance, employees who will be operating a tractor all afternoon without any supervision could set their time to check-in every 15 minutes. That way, their organization will know they are safe. If an employee misses a check-in, a monitor will be notified right away and be able to respond quickly. The use of a check-in system is a great way to prevent emergencies before they happen. You can learn more about what it means to be proactive, in our previous blog article “A Comprehensive look into Proactive Safety“
An additional feature that is particularly advantageous in the farming industry is motion sensors. Man-down detection notifies a monitor if a farmworker is immobile for an extended period. So, if a worker becomes unconscious or unable to signal for help in the field, someone will still be notified that they are in trouble. Fall-detection delivers a similar convenience but is activated by a fast movement towards the ground. Both man-down and fall-detection do not rely on an agriculture worker’s ability to call for help, to call for help.
Providing your workers with Bluetooth panic buttons is another excellent way to improve the safety status in your organization. Wearable and waterproof workplace panic buttons are a secure and reliable way for an employee to quickly and discreetly signal an emergency. Farm employees could benefit from this added safety device immensely, especially in situations where they are unable to reach their phones or GPS device.
Due to the nature of a farmworker’s job, implementing comprehensive safety measures is necessary for all agriculture organizations. The combination of daily risks associated with working on a farm, and the possibility of working alone, make the farming industry one of the most dangerous sectors in the United States. In addition to abiding by standard practices, companies should consider adopting a lone worker monitoring solution like Scatterling to secure the safety of their lone workers on the job. You can read more about why a worker safety monitoring device will benefit your employees on our previous blog article.