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OSHA working to create safer dairies

Farm safety specialists are encouraging dairies to create a safe workplace culture on the farm.

Mary Bauer works for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigating farm compliance and providing resources for farms to create a safer work environment.  She tells Brownfield there are specific farm accidents that need to be reported to OSHA.

“Any accident that had resulted in a hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye, and of course any workplace fatality needs to be reported to OSHA, actually physically call us.”

Injury and illnesses on farms with 11 or more employees also need to be recorded by farmers.

She says some obvious risk factors on dairy farms can easily be eliminated like entering confined spaces in manure handling systems and silos.  “Confined spaces are typically multiple fatalities, they’re typically family related or close nit groups where you’ve got to say, no I’m not going to go down in there.”  Bauer adds other major risk areas on dairies include PTO shafts, tractors, loud noises and electrocution.

AUDIO: Brownfield’s Larry Lee interviews Mary Bauer at World Dairy Expo