For farmers and ranchers, materials on farm safety are vital. The Center for Dairy Excellence and the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania has a series of safety videos available to help dairy producers share simple safety reminders with farm employees.
The Seconds for Your Safety videos, designed to be approximately 60 seconds in length, are available in both English and Spanish and can be watched and shared easily on a computer or cell phone. They will cover topics such as safety around animals, fall prevention measures, tractor and truck rollovers, youth on the farm, and more.
The Center and PDMP also have free sets of farm safety signs available to help producers display important safety reminders throughout their facilities. Six different signs are available in the set, including a blank one that producers can customize for their operations. English and Spanish are both included on the signs.
“Farm safety is important all year long, but September is a good time to put some extra thought and focus into keeping your dairy farm team safe, especially during fall harvest,” said Jayne Sebright, Executive Director at the Center for Dairy Excellence. “These videos are quick yet filled with helpful reminders you can share with your team, and the safety signs can help you make sure you have the proper safety precautions in place on your dairy operation.”
All of the videos in this series have been narrated by Katie Dotterer, who grew up on her family’s dairy farm and shares her passion for agriculture with others at www.agvokate.com.
Video 1: Safety Hazards and Precautions for Horizontal Silos
“Having just gone through my fourth surgery to try to regain full use of my hand after a preventable farm accident earlier this year, I can’t stress enough how important it is to take a minute before doing even your most basic chores to consider the safest way to proceed,” said Allen Behrer, President of PDMP and dairy producer from Huntingdon County. “It’s essential to develop a culture of safety on your farm, even if it’s just spending a few minutes in your team meetings sharing these safety tips with employees.”
Video 2: Fall Prevention Measures
“Most incidents on the farm, even the accident that I had, are entirely preventable. It’s just proper training, common sense, and making sure people have the right abilities to run the machines they’re operating,” said Brett Reinford of Reinford Farms who shared his farm safety story in one of the Center’s Cow-Side Conversations podcast episodes. “Start with the simple things. They often don’t cost a lot, and they can save you a lot of money. I’m well over $200,000 on the incident I had on my farm, and it was entirely preventable.”
Video 3: Youth on the Farm
An estimated 14,000 youth were injured in farms in 2012. Keeping kids safe on the farm can mean setting up preventative measures such as safe and unsafe zones on the farm, ensuring equipment they’re operating is age-appropriate, and making sure they’re not riding along on equipment that’s not set up for extra riders.
Video 4: Avoiding Tractor and Truck Rollovers
Tractor overturns were the leading cause of death for farm workers who died in work-related injuries in 2012. Avoiding tractor and truck rollovers means not cutting corners too close, avoiding overloading, inexperienced drivers, and operating on hills.
Video 5: Staying Safe Around Electrical Hazards
Electrical hazards cause more than 300 deaths and 4,000 injuries each year. Make sure that equipment has proper covers, electricity is turned off when working with it, check ground wires, and other electrical wires regularly.
Video 6: Staying Safe Around Gasses
While you’re in the thick of a busy May on the farm, remember to take precautions around gasses to avoid exposure, especially during manure application. Gas releases can be flammable and immediately toxic, and they are usually invisible and odorless. The risk of gas exposure is significantly increased when manure — both liquid and solid — is agitated or moved.
Video 7: Safety Around Animals
Every day, about 167 agricultural workers suffer a lost work time injury. With their unpredictive nature, large animals increase opportunities for injuries. No matter how comfortable you are with cattle, it’s important to remember that even the most gentle animals can cause injury.
If you know a dairy producer without Internet access who might benefit from watching the videos or sharing them with farm employees, email Emily Barge at ebarge@centerfordairyexcellence.org or call 717-346-0849 to request access.
The Center and PDMP also have free sets of farm safety signs available to help producers display important safety reminders throughout their facilities. Six different signs are available in the set, including a blank one that producers can customize for their operations. English and Spanish are both included on the signs. To request safety signs to be mailed to you while supplies last, visit www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/farm-safety or call 717-346-0849.
This article was originally published on Nov. 29, 2021, and was updated twice, most recently on Jan. 5, 2023.
