Ag Safety STAT: October 2019

Ag Safety S.T.A.T. – Safe Tactics for Ag Today is an electronic newsletter prepared by the OSU Extension Agricultural Safety & Health Office. The goal is to provide seasonal safety news and activities that may be re-published in your own newsletters or programs. If you have safety-related questions or program ideas that you would like to share, please contact Dee Jepsen at jepsen.4@osu.edu

In This Issue:
  1. Ohio AgrAbility in Action: 2019 Farm Science Review – A Review of the Review
  2. Safety at the Bin
  3. Open Burn Laws for Ohio
  4. DANGER! – Overhead Power Lines

  1. Ohio AgrAbility in Action: 2019 Farm Science Review – A Review of the Review

    Laura Akgerman, Disability Services Coordinator, Ohio AgrAbility Project

    The Ohio AgrAbility Program’s dual missions of education and assistance to farmers with disabilities were on display at the 2019 Farm Science Review September 17 - 19. Staff, farmers and vendors were on hand to answer questions, greet visitors, demonstrate assistive technology and equipment, and talk about Ohio AgrAbility.

    OAP featured a new exhibit area in 2019 – Ohio AgrAbility: A Focus on Livestock, with adapted equipment and information posters detailing how modifications and Assistive Technology can help famers with and without disabilities farm safely. The equipment featured included an automated door from Propel Sliding  Door Automation which  opens and closes heavy and cumbersome doors with no effort, and no need to leave the vehicle. The doors can be installed on existing sliding doors, and the doors lock when closed. This benefits a farmer who has limited or no mobility, or difficulty climbing in and out of their vehicle to operate a door.

    The PWR EZ systems power fold auger can be operated from the operator’s seat, and eliminates the need to climb onto the combine and into the grain bin to fold the fountain auger up or down. This increases safety for anyone operating the combine, and allows a farmer who cannot climb onto the combine to move the auger to continue working safely and independently.

    The vendors displayed and demonstrated their products, answered questions, and worked with staff and farmers to problem solve issues that may limit the farmers productivity or ability to safely use and access their equipment and facilities.

    For more information, please contact Laura Akgerman, Ohio AgrAbility and OSU Extension Disability Services Coordinator, at Akgerman.4@osu.edu, or 614-292-0622.

  2. Safety at the Bin

    Lisa Pfeifer – OSU Ag Safety and Health Education Coordinator

    Approaching harvest makes for a busy time on the farm. Stop and take the time now to inspect on-farm grain handling facilities before the combine heads to the field. Assess the 10 items on our list and make repairs or improvements to deficiencies. OSU Ag Safety & Health wishes you a safe fall harvest.

     

  3. Open Burn Laws for Ohio

    Dee Jepsen – State Agricultural Safety & Health Leader

    October and November are two months in the fall where open burning is a fire concern for Ohio residents. It’s a good idea to know the type of fire permitted for your area.

    The Ohio EPA determines the types of fires that are restricted inside and outside of a village or city. For the most part, open burning of residential and land-clearing wastes are not permitted within city limits. Restrictions do not apply to barbeques, campfires, cookouts, and bonfires (with wood stacks no larger than 2ft. high X 3ft. wide) – these types of fires are permitted.

    Agricultural products, such as wastes and plant matter from tree trimmings, stumps, brush, weeds, leaves, grass, shrubbery and materials from crop or livestock production, are permitted to be burned with restrictions. Likewise burning of fence posts and scrap lumber (but not from buildings or land clearing waste) are also permitted. All open fires must be more than 1,000 feet from a neighbor’s home or inhabited building. 

    Wastes that are never permitted to be burned include: garbage, dead animals, and products containing rubber, grease and asphalt. Fires cannot be near, or block vision of, roadways, railroads or airfields.

    The months of October and November carry open burn restrictions. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, fires can become out of control due to windy and dry conditions. Because of these conditions, open burning is not permitted in rural areas from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. During the ban, fires must be in a plowed field with a 200 feet distance of woodlands or brush.

    With any fire, small particulates are suspended in the smoke that could lead to health disorders. Open fire burning has been linked to asthma and respiratory illnesses. Household wastes contain various chemicals and these toxins can emit high levels of sulfur dioxide, lead and mercury. Airborne pollutants can lead to more severe health conditions such as nervous system damage, kidney and liver damage, and reproductive disorders.

    For additional questions about Ohio’s open burning regulations, contact the Ohio EPA Division of Air Pollution Control at (614) 644-2270. Local EPA districts are also available to answer questions. Their website contains a complete list of agencies available in the state, http://epa.ohio.gov/dapc/general/openburning. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources website is http://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/burninglaws.

    For more information about other Ag Safety topics visit https://agsafety.osu.edu or contact Dee Jepsen at jepsen.4@osu.edu or 614-292-6008.

     

  4. DANGER! – Overhead Power Lines

    Kent McGuire – OSU CFAES Safety and Health Coordinator

    America’s Electrical Cooperatives reminds everyone to keep the following electrical safety guidelines in mind when working around overhead electric lines during harvest season:

    • Use a spotter when operating large machinery near power lines.
    • Keep equipment at least 10 feet from power lines—at all times, in all directions.
    • Use care when moving any equipment such as extending augers or raising the bed of grain trucks around power lines or poles.
    • Inspect the height of farm equipment to determine clearance.
    • Never attempt to move a power line out of the way or raise it for clearance.
    • If your equipment does make contact with a power line, immediately call 911 and warn others to stay away.
    • If you can drive away from the power source safely, travel at least 40 feet away before exiting the equipment.
    • If you are unable to drive the machinery, do not exit the cab. Instead, wait for local electrical crews to cut the power so you can exit safely. 
    • The only reason to exit equipment that is in contact with overhead lines is if the equipment is on fire. Do not touch the ground and the equipment at the same time. Jump as far away from the equipment as you can with your feet together. Then, with feet together, hop to safety as you leave the area.  

    For more information about the OSU Ag Safety visit https://agsafety.osu.edu/ or contact Kent McGuire, at mcguire.225@osu.edu or 614-292-0588.