Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
7/3/03
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Charles V. Schwab, Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering, (515) 294-4131,
cvschawab@iastate.edu
Jean McGuire, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515) 294-7033,
jmcguire@iastate.edu
National Plan for Agricultural Safety Research Announced
The culmination of two years work by agricultural safety specialists from across the country has resulted in the recently released "The National Agenda for Action, National Land Grant Research and Extension Agenda for Agricultural Safety and Health."
The report outlines the 12 key areas where land grant institutions and agricultural experiment stations should focus future safety research. It was created by the NCR-197 Committee on Agricultural Safety and Health Research and Extension. The group's members come from 18 land grant institutions, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). A complete list of committee members is available at the end of this release.
Charles V. Schwab, associate professor, Ag and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University and chair, NCR-197 committee, said "This historical document marks the first published national agricultural safety and health agenda for action by the land grant system since 1943, when the first cooperative extension specialist for safety was appointed in Wisconsin."
Agricultural production in the U.S. has historically been recognized as one of the most hazardous of all industrial categories. Most other industries have benefited from enhanced workplace safety and expanded workplace safety regulations. However, farms and ranches have experienced little reduction in the rate of workplace deaths and injuries over the past decade. The fatality rate for agricultural workers is estimated to more than six times that of other industries (22.5 per100,000 versus 3.8 per 100,000) Currently an average of 740 people lose their lives and another 130,000 workers are temporarily or permanently disabled each year doing farm and ranch work.
About 75 percent of farm-related fatalities involve tractors and machinery, with the single most significant cause of death being tractor overturns. The remaining workplace fatalities are distributed over a wide variety of causes ranging from livestock-related injuries to suffocation in flowing material. In addition, farm and ranch families face increased hazards of rural transportation and the intersection of work, recreation and home that results in broad exposure to workplace hazards that don't exist in most other industries.
The entire report may be found at the following Web address: http://www.tmvc.iastate.edu/NCR197.
NCR-197 Committee on Agricultural Safety and Health Research and Extension
| Robert Aherin, Ph.D. | University of Illinois |
| Thomas Bean, Ed.D. | The Ohio State University |
| Connie D. Baggett, Ph.D. | The Pennsylvania State University |
| Roy B. Dodd, Ph.D. | Clemson University |
| Howard Doss, Ph.D. | Michigan State University |
| Willard Downs, Ph.D. | University of Missouri |
| William E. Field, Ed.D. | Purdue University |
| Joe Ford, Ph.D. | USDA/ARS/US Meat |
| Rolando Maghirang, Ph.D. | Kansas State University |
| James M. Meyers, Ph.D. | University of California |
| John Myers, Ph.D. | Centers for Disease Control/NIOSH |
| Dennis J. Murphy, Ph.D. | The Pennsylvania State University |
| Fred Oehme, Ph.D., D.V.M. | Kansas State University |
| Suranjan Panigrahi, Ph.D. | North Dakota State University |
| John Pickrell, Ph.D. | Kansas State University |
| Mark A. Purschwitz, Ph.D. | University of Wisconsin |
| Bradley Rein | USDA-CSREES-PAS |
| Charles V. Schwab, Ph.D. | Iowa State University |
| Bryan Shaw, Ph.D. | Texas A&M University |
| John Shutske, Ph.D. | University of Minnesota |
| Chryssoula Thodi-Petrou, Ph.D. | South Carolina State University |
| Keith Tinsey, M.Sc. | Michigan State University |
| Dale Vanderholm, Ph.D. | University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| Michael F. Walter, Ph.D. | Cornell University |
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