From tractor safety to grain bin rescue and ATV rollovers to livestock injuries, the June 23-27 International Agricultural Safety and Health Conference is designed to provide insight into key safety issues in the agricultural community.
The overall goal of the conference is to promote agricultural safety and health as part of an effort to reduce injuries and save the lives of farmers and ranchers, said Dee Jepsen, Ohio State University Extension's state safety leader and a conference organizer.
OSU Extension is the statewide outreach arm of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
"On average, there are 26 fatalities and over 1,400 serious injuries on Ohio farms every year," she said. "It makes sense to host this conference here because Ohio is a typical state in terms of experiencing the kinds of agricultural injuries that other states experience, such as tractor rollovers, ATV crashes, confined space issues with grain bins, and livestock injuries and fatalities.
"But Ohio is unique in that we have slightly higher roadway crashes than other states, with urban sprawl and the largest Amish community by population, which adds to more slow-moving vehicles on public roads."
The conference will be held at Sawmill Creek Resort, 400 Sawmill Creek Drive West in Huron. Registration, available at https://agsafety.osu.edu/isash-conference, is $450 for members of the International Society of Agricultural Safety and Health; $550 for non-members; $225 for student members and $275 for student non-members, by June 15.
The conference will feature a Lakes and Lighthouse keynote address from Jeff Reutter, Stone Lab and Ohio Sea Grant director, who will discuss the Ohio Sea Grant program; and Doug Sharp, U.S. Coast Guard 9th District, who will share the history of Lake Erie lighthouses and their role in safety.
The conference will also feature 38 sessions, including:
- Safety and health in Amish communities
- Increased risk of farm equipment crashes in urban incorporated areas
- An online Ag Safety and Health course
- ATV plenary session including educational ideas for promoting ATV safety
- Estimating grain injuries and fatalities to youth involved in grain entrapments
- An electronic risk assessment tool
- Assessing the effectiveness of audience response system technology in pesticide applicator training
- Gardening and small farm safety and health curriculum
- Country and urban agricultural tours
- Tufgrass tour
- The conference will also feature a half-day workshop June 27 from 8 to noon on confined spaces including grain engulfment and manure storage. The workshop cost is $50 and includes a continental breakfast.
For more information, visit https://agsafety.osu.edu/isash-conference or contact Jepsen at 614-292-6008 or jepsen.4@osu.edu.
The conference is sponsored by OSU Extension, OARDC, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation and the CHS Foundation.