COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new farm-related educational resource has been added to a national website that offers everyone from beginning farmers to veteran grower’s answers to hundreds of farm-related safety and health questions, in an easy-to-navigate format featuring information offered from a consortium of 74 land-grant universities, including Ohio State University.
The website, http://www.extension.org/farm_safety_and_health, offers answers and tips on farm safety and health issues ranging from grain bin entrapments to safe beef cattle handling, said Dee Jepsen, Ohio State University Extension's state safety leader.
“This online resource will serve many groups, including educators, injury outreach specialists and farm workers, with valuable information that can be accessed anytime,” she said. “And in an agricultural community where business is done all day, every day, there is never a down time for safety and health information.”
eXtension (which is pronounced E-extension) is a national internet-based educational network and partnership of 74 universities that provides online access to objective, research-based information and education, Jepsen said. The new section is called Community of Practice, Farm and Ranch eXtension for Safety and Health, or FReSH.
“Agriculture is a dangerous industry,” she said. “This on-line resource is now available to serve hard-working men, women and families with up-to-date safety and health materials to protect the most valuable assets: the farm workers.
“Besides providing answers to frequently asked farm safety questions, this site also contains relevant articles on a variety of safety and health topics, and a calendar of farm safety events.”
Some of the articles that appear on the site include:
- Safety recommendations when baling and handling big round bales.
- Confined-space hazards and gas monitoring of manure pit gases.
- Beef cattle handling safety.
- ATV safety.
- Hearing loss and protection for agricultural producers.
- Grain bin entrapments from flowing grains.
“We are nearing our peak season for the frequency and severity of farm-related injuries,” Jepsen said. “This is great timing for eXtension to support the upcoming summer season with an ounce of prevention.”
Support for the farm safety and health content on the website comes from a team of educators, including Linda Fetzer, Dennis Murphy and Aaron Yoder of Pennsylvania State University; Richard Brozowski, University of Maine; Karen Funkenbusch, University of Missouri; Jepsen, Ohio State; Carol Jones, Oklahoma State University; Michael Pate, Utah State University; Charles Schwab, Iowa State University; and John Myers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.