Confined Space for Agriculture -- Free Course On-line

This on-line course, written by Dr. Robert Aherin at the University of Illinois, is designed to cover the major confined space issues facing work in agriculture. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established requirements and procedures for the entry of confined spaces that they have identified as posing special dangers to those entering. The goal of this program is to help participants meet the introductory training requirements of the standard. Additional training is required to provide the employee with the information and procedures specific to a given work site. In many cases, additional training is required in the use of equipment, monitoring procedures, documentation, and emergency procedures that are specific to a work site.

Free registration or $55 for 2 CEU credits; accessible 24/7 on-line ("Click on "Agricultural Safety and Health")

Off-Guard Project (Photo-Essay Book)

Off-Guard: Farmers and Machinery Injuries is a photographic exhibition undertaken in Saskatchewan, Canada. It tells stories and shows pictures of six people who sustained life-altering injuries when working with farm machinery. The goal of the exhibit is to teach others that they may work to eliminate risk factors and prevent injury or death. The stories serve to remind people of the long-term emotional/physical/social/economic costs that can result from that split second of being caught ‘off-guard’.

View the photo-essay on-line (PDF)

Assessing Damage and Restoring Trees after a Hurricane

This publication is part of an Urban Forest Hurricane Program, aimed at citizens and communities who seek to rebuild and set better urban forest management practices so that future storms are less devastating. It contains six topics:

• Safety -- Staying safe during storm cleanup, safely operating a chain saw and hiring the right tree care professional,
• Assessing Damage and Deciding What to Do -- Distinguishing trees that should be removed and those that may recover through restoration pruning,
• Restoration Pruning -- Pruning trees to restore them to health,
• Palms and Pines -- Dealing with palms and pines,
• Prevention and Design -- Selecting the right tree, designing the right location and evaluating trees for potential hazard to reduce future storm damage, and
• Wind Resistant Species-- Establishing trees for a healthy and more wind resistant urban forest.

View Assessing Damage and Restoring Trees after a Hurricane on-line (PDF)

Interactive Demonstrations of Safe Play Areas at Rural & Agricultural Events

This new publication provides details for developing a demonstration area of a “Safe Play Area on Farms” that would be held at large-scaled events such as fairs or farm shows. The purpose is to provide quality resources, practical examples, and guidance to farm owners, parents, grandparents and guardians of children living on and/or visiting farms. (However, the demonstration of the Safe Play Areas needs to be carried out safely!) This publication provides the details for implementing such a community-wide project.

View Interactive Deomnstrations of Safe Play Areas on-line

Extension Publications in Spanish

Extensión en Español is a grassroots organization of USDA-CSREES Extension educators which seeks to better serve Spanish-speaking clients by sharing expertise and materials across the Cooperative Extension System.

Link to the overall Spanish publication site is: http://extensionenespanol.net

The following are safety-related publications:

• Chemicals: The Good, the Bad and the Deadly
• Farm Mishaps: Who You Gonna Call?
• On Track with Tractor Safety
• Safety with Birds, Bees and Other Beasts
• Those Mighty Machines
• Unveiling Hidden Farm Hazards
• Lawn Maintenance
• Farm Operators
• Safety for Senior Farmers
• Safe Debris Burning: What Do you Have to Lose?

It’s Easier to Bury a Tradition than a Child

The Childhood Agricultural Safety Network was formed to raise awareness and change behaviors to help keep children safer on the farm. CASN is made up of 14 national organizations that have banded together to produce marketing messages for the general public. The 2006-2007 campaign is geared towards Youth and Tractor Safety with the message that it is never all right for children to be on a tractor.

“It’s easier to bury a tradition than a child” is a message for keeping kids off tractors. Tractors are involved in 41% of the unintentional farm deaths of children under 15. Yet, 4 out of 5 farm children regularly ride tractors with family members. While riding the tractor may be a family tradition, it’s easier to bury a tradition than a child.

Visit the Childhood Agricultural Safety Network (click on media/materials for the posters and information)

Lawn Equipment Safety Video & Audio Clips

The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) provides safety video and audio clips on-line. Included are lawn mowing, how to mow on a hill, clearing the area, keeping kids away etc.

Concerned Families for ATV Safety

Concerned Families for ATV Safety is an organization dedicated to reducing the number of children seriously injured and killed by ATVs. Many of the members have lost children in ATV-related incidents. The Web site with safety information about ATV use is at: http://www.atvsafetynet.org/Index.html.

Farm Security – Meth Production

The University of Kentucky’s Health Education Through Extension Leadership program has produced “Walk Your Land – Protect Your Property Against Unauthorized Clandestine Methamphetamine Production” training materials. Although these materials are ‘personalized’ for regions in Kentucky, they could be ‘personalized’ for anywhere. Brochures, fact sheets, power point presentations, etc. can be downloaded from the Health Education through Extension Leadership Web site.

Additional Resources

• Security issues related to anhydrous ammonia (which can be used in meth producation) can be downloaded from the University of Florida’s Disaster Handbook Web site. Look for Unit 5.
• More information about land owner responsibility for clean-up etc. is contained in the September 2004 issue of Safety News and Notes.
• CDC report about meth labs

ISU Recgonized for Work to Reduce Meth Production

Iowa State researchers George Kraus and John Verkade and their team of graduate students have discovered a way to make anhydrous ammonia fertilizer useless as an ingredient for methamphetamine. Details...

NIOSH Publication for Cranes & Hoisted Loads

In September, NIOSH released an Alert entitled “Preventing Worker Injuries and Deaths from Mobile Crane Tip-Over, Boom Collapse, and Uncontrolled Hoisted Loads.” The publication is available on-line and includes background information, injury data, and case reports.

Access the Alert on-line

Prevent Tip-over Hazards (furniture on children)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a warning about the dangers of televisions and heavy furniture tipping over and killing young children. The number of TV tip-over deaths reported to CPSC during the first seven months of 2006 is twice the typical yearly average. There are usually five deaths reported to CPSC each year caused by televisions tipping over onto young children, but 10 deaths have already been reported this year. There are also at least 3,000 injuries involving children and TV tip-overs each year.

These deaths and injuries frequently occur when children climb onto, fall against or pull themselves up on television stands, shelves, bookcases, dressers, desks and chests. In some cases, televisions placed on top of furniture tip over and cause a child to suffer traumatic and sometimes fatal injuries.

To help prevent tip-over hazards, CPSC offers the following safety tips:

• Verify that furniture is stable on its own. For added security, anchor to the floor or attach to the wall all entertainment units, TV stands, bookcases, shelving and bureaus using appropriate hardware, such as brackets, screws, or toggles.
• Place televisions on sturdy furniture appropriate for the size of the TV or on a low-rise base.
• Push the TV as far back as possible from the front of its stand.
• Place electrical cords out of a child’s reach, and teach children not to play with the cords.
• Remove items that might tempt kids to climb, such as toys and remote controls, from the top of the TV and furniture.

Download the CPSC’s new safety alert “Preventing TV and Furniture Tip-Over Deaths”

• English version
• Spanish version

Prevent Children Drowning around the Home

Cooler weather in most of the country means swimming pools have closed for the season, but parents and caregivers should know that other drowning dangers still exist in and around the home. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning that children need to be supervised around the home and protected from these potentially hidden drowning hazards. Parents of young children can never let their guard down when it comes to water. They need to be aware that bathtubs, buckets, and other containers in and around the home pose drowning hazards all year long. CSPC has produced a new poster on preventing in-home drowning (English version; Spanish version).

Though an average of about 280 children younger than 5 years old drown in swimming pools each year, an average of about 150 additional children also drown at home in bathtubs, hot tubs and spas, buckets, toilets, trash cans, landscape or fish ponds and decorative fountains. After pools, more children drown in bathtubs than in any other product in and around the home. For 2002 (the most recent year of complete data), CPSC has reports of 69 children younger than 5 who drowned in bathtubs. Most bathtub drowning cases involved a child left unattended in the tub. In at least 27 of the 69 incidents, another child was also in the tub.

Here are some more home drowning prevention tips:

• Young children can drown in even small amounts of water. Never leave young children alone near any water.
• Always keep a young child within arm’s reach in a bathtub. Never leave to answer the phone, answer the door, get a towel or for any other reason. If you must leave, take the child with you.
• Don’t leave a baby or toddler in a bathtub under the care of another young child.
• A baby bath seat is never a substitute for supervision. A bath seat is a bathing aid, not a safety device. Babies can slip or climb out of bath seats and drown.
• Keep toilet lids down to prevent access to water. Consider using toilet clips to stop young children from opening the lids.
• Consider keeping children out of bathrooms by using bathroom door latches that are out of reach of young children.
• Never leave a bucket containing even a small amount of liquid unattended. After using a bucket, always empty and store it where young children cannot reach it. Buckets left outside can collect rainwater and are a hazard. Toddlers can fall headfirst into 4- and 5-gallon buckets and drown.
• To prevent children from gaining access to spas or hot tubs when not in use, always secure safety covers and barriers. Non-rigid covers (such as solar covers) do not provide protection from drowning. They can appear to be in place even after children slip underneath them into the water.
• Learn CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). It can be a lifesaver when seconds count.