Agriculture

As OSHA makes clear, employees in the agriculture industry are exposed to numerous safety, health, environmental, biological and respiratory hazards.These include hazards related to grain bins and silos, chemicals (and inadequate communications related to them), noise, musculoskeletal injuries, heat, and others. 

Specific hazards that OSHA highlights include:

1. Pesticides and other chemicals
2. Hazardous equipment and machinery
3. Falls from heights

1. Establishing Hazardous Substance Standards

Chemicals pose a wide range of health hazards (i.e., irritation, sensitization, carcinogenicity) and physical hazards (such as flammability, corrosion, and reactivity), resulting in costly workers' compensation claims. Year after year, OSHA identifies improper handling and use of chemicals as one of the top three most frequently cited violations, resulting in costly fines. Employers may also be accountable for following regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal, state and local agencies.

The solution is a risk assessment to identify employee exposures and possible contact with chemicals, to tailor a customized mitigation program. The process includes:

• Creating a site-specific risk assessment to identify and catalog chemicals and quantity on hand and the areas where they are used, handled and stored or where chemical contact could occur.
• Prioritizing usage and location of chemicals to create an action plan on proper storage and training.
• Developing a plan focused on:
  • Eliminating the need for worker contact with chemicals.
  • Using automated equipment to minimize the number of employees having contact with a specific chemical.
  • Training employees and management team members on cause and controls to prevent these events.
  • Using personal protective equipment to reduce contact and exposure with a chemical.
  • Keeping eye-wash and wash bins close by for emergency first-aid.

2. Being Struck by Objects or Equipment

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20,480 workers are injured annually after being struck by objects or equipment. The solution is to complete a risk assessment, analyzing the employer’s historical loss data and workstation tasks to develop a customized plan focused on preventing or minimizing the frequency and severity of loss.

• Identifying locations and job functions along the process flow where struck-by injuries have occurred.
• Reviewing forklift operations and operator qualifications.
• Engineering controls to include barriers, guards or shields.
• Conducting personal protection equipment assessments.
• Training employees.
• Addressing plant traffic layout.
• Assessing material storage.
• Reviewing material lifting/rigging procedures and inspections.

3. Falls From Heights

Falls can result in severe workers’ compensation incidents in the agriculture industry. The solution is to complete a site risk assessment and a job hazard analysis (JHA) to identify the primary loss drivers resulting in falls from heights, as well as a customized risk control program that includes:

• Analysis of the jobs most frequently involved in working from heights as well as training and protective equipment to those employees (hard hats, proper shoes, safety belts).
• Assessment of physical changes to the workplace to minimize exposure that may involve installing a fall protection system (railings, guards, etc.).
• Review of existing ladders and equipment to make sure they are in good condition and proper for the work.
• Ladder and platform training.
• Wearable technology and GPS monitoring devices that track the movement and location of an employee, and provide fall detection, improving employee safety.

Employers should require a JHA to be completed any time work will be done at or over four feet to ensure:

• The safest means for completing the work.
• Use of the proper and safest equipment.
• Proper employee training and education about all safety expectations.
• If the analysis shows a high level of risk, a third-party vendor should be hired using an OSHA-compliant work plan.

USI focuses on mitigating and insuring risks throughout the entire supply chain — from farm to fork. Our clients face extensive challenges with global supply chain exposures, advances in food distribution systems, government regulations, food contamination and spoilage, environmental challenges and business continuity.