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March 4, 2010
Conference stresses safety for ag workers
Last year, there were eight agriculture-related deaths in
Fatalities in farming, forestry, fishing and hunting, which are counted
together, led the state last year, followed by transportation and
warehousing. The third deadliest industry was construction.
At the conference, workshops in English and Spanish covered such topics
as ammonia safety in warehouses, eye and ladder injury prevention, and
machinery safety and inspection.
While there are no controversial new regulations so far this year to pit
grower against government -- like a proposed heat stress rule a few
years ago that was eventually modified by compromise -- safety officials
say the recession may cause businesses to put safety last instead of
first.
"There is a temptation to cut corners with economic pressures," said
Michael Silverstein, assistant director for the division of safety and
health services at Labor & Industries.
"But cutting corners can end up being more expensive in terms of lost
productivity and quality. That's one of the big messages here."
The idea for the annual conference came about when the Washington Farm
Bureau determined that while many of the state's largest wheat growers
had regular safety meetings, the smaller tree-fruit growers and their
many Spanish-language employees weren't receiving much-needed training.
"People in the orchards were getting little more than what their
employers could provide and little of it was bilingual," recalled Jeff
Lutz, safety director for the Farm Bureau.
This year's conference is co-sponsored by Labor & Industries and the
Governor's Industrial Safety and Health Board.
Greg Davis of Edwall, near
In tree fruit, some of the most common injuries come from falls from
ladders. Workers descending an orchard ladder with a bag full of fruit
often miss the lowest rungs and end up with twisted ankles. Falls from
the top of the ladder, which are angled in like a tripod, are far more
serious, Lutz said.
But machinery poses the greatest risk for farmers and farm workers.
Last year, a
Last month, Jim Stanton, Sunnyside's former fire chief, was severely
injured after a tractor lurched backward as he and another worker were
trying to load it onto a pickup.
Labor & Industries will soon start a new conversation with the Farm
Bureau on tractor rollover protection measures, Silverstein said.
"I'm not going to be satisfied until we end deaths from rollovers
completely," he said.
Between 1998 and 2005, there were 10 tractor or combine-related deaths
in rollovers. Nine involved orchard tractors.
Under current regulations, growers are generally exempt from having to
use rollover protective devices on older tractors and when those devices
would interfere with normal operation. Most affected are orchards,
vineyards, hop yards and dairies, where frequently there's not enough
overhead or sideways clearance to accommodate a protective bar around
the driver.
Rollovers happen when the center of gravity of the tractor rises above
the most stable point of the machine. Tractors can roll to the side or
rear. A field full of ruts, a slope or the edge along a road can be
enough to tip a tractor.
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