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“Tell a story, Save a life”: Farmers encouraged to share their farm accident stories

Farmers are encouraged to share the impact of their own farm related accidents through a project launched last week funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Stephanie Leonard with the Great Plains Ag Center tells Brownfield the goal of the nationwide “Telling the Story” project is to help farmers see through the eyes of others who have experienced farm accidents.

“The folks that tell us about their story and their experience are all bonded by a common statement and that is: If my story helps someone else, I want to tell it. I don’t want someone else to go through what we went through.”

Leonard tells Brownfield that personal stories are more relevant to farmers and help them remember the educational message behind safety awareness.

“There is really a broad range of stories that we are looking for and we are hoping people contact us with stories to share and share stories amongst themselves. We value their experiences, their willingness and their openness to help other people by sharing.”

Stories that have already been shared address accidents related to manure gases, ATV’s, falls, flash fires, and simply taking shortcuts. These testimonies can be read on the project website: www.tellingthestoryproject.org.

The three centers currently working on the project include: Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health (Iowa); Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (Nebraska); and Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (Minnesota).

Anyone willing to share their story can email [email protected].