It is National Farm Safety and Health Week, and this week-long event is a crucial time for raising awareness and improving safety practices in agriculture.
The National Farm Medicine Center emphasizes the importance of understanding where safety issues arise.
According to Scot Heiberger, “One of the big problems any public health problem you’re facing or public health situation, you need to know where you stand. You need the data. We call it injury surveillance and it’s a real challenge.”
He notes the National Farm Medicine Center’s work on injury surveillance through platforms like Ag Injury News helps direct resources to where they are most needed.
Melissa Ploekelman, also from the National Farm Medicine Center, adds a focus on protecting young farm workers.
“The Kassan and that organization is something that anyone who is interested in protecting youth on farms can get involved in. It’s a network where we talk about what are the injuries that are happening, what are the trends that we’re seeing, and then what are we doing to prevent those injuries and fatalities, and we share information with each other,” she adds.
