(Spirit Lake)-It’s National Farm Safety and Health Week, KUOO’s Becky Thoreson has details:
National Farm Safety and Health Week runs through September 26th.
Farm Management Specialist Gary Wright with ISU Extension in Dickinson County says farmers are facing a challenge with very dry conditions and high fire danger this year. “Anytime you’ve got moving equipment where you’ve got friction, you’re going to create heat by itself, and now you’re going to add to that temperatures outside as well as there’s a lot of hours being put in the equipment overnight. Bearings getting warm, engines getting warm. If they’re not doing real good periodic maintenance with cleaning out filters, with checking fluid levels, those kind of factors are all going to contribute, potentially.”
He adds that fatigue can be another hazard for farmers. “They’ll do as much as they can in the shortest amount of time and they’ll perhaps have some stress and stress is bad enough in and by by itself because of margins and operating conditions, and then they might try to use pharmacy tools to perhaps to overcome those kinds of things. The good news is, Iowa State University Extension, we have the Human Services group that can help.”
He notes that motorists should be on the lookout for large equipment this time of year. “Certainly the slow moving vehicle is a pretty common, understood emblem, but that’s not seen until you’re virtually right on top of it. Then just the lights and the flashing, just being aware, and the equipment is very large. There’s only so much room on the road so be sensitive to that as well.”
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