Saving lives and improving the health of farmers, ranchers and other rural residents was the focus of the American Farm Bureau Safety and Health Network Conference May 21-23, in Oklahoma City.
“We were pleased to host this conference and hopefully increase safety awareness for farmers,” said Justin Grego, Oklahoma Farm Bureau Safety Services Director.
“Farm Bureau has a long history of advocating safety and health on the farm and ranch,” said Kim Baker, AFBF program assistant.
According to conference organizers, more than 30 participants from 12 states attended the event.
“This is a great opportunity to share ideas and network with safety experts from around the country,” Grego said. “Everybody here at this conference has one goal and that’s learning more ways to save lives.”
The conference included presentations on protective clothing and equipment, the impact of older farmers having more accidents, farm shop safety programs and first aid on the farm.
“About half of all adult farm fatalities involve individuals over the age of 55,” said Dr. Deborah Reed, Associate Professor, University of Kentucky. “This translates into a terrible loss for the American farmer and those families that are involved.”
Reed said slowing down and taking more frequent breaks are good ways to prevent accidents.
“The situation is that the work still has to be done and this group has an extremely high work ethic,” Reed said. “We hope to share ideas through our network of safety and health experts to help farmers understand the consequences of accidents.”
