managing worker safety and health on dairy farms

Dennis J. Murphy, PhD, CSP Agricultural Safety & Health

Penn State [email protected]

www.agsafety.psu.edu

Managing Worker Safety and Health

on Dairy Farms

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.agsafety.psu.edu/

Are you Proactive or Reactive?

Ohio Dairy Farm Worker Killed In Feed Mixer Accident

Dairy Farmer’s Boys Have Close Call With Manure Gas

Safety & Health Program Management Rationale

• Business Costs / Economic Loss

– Direct costs: higher insurance premiums and deductibles; medical deductibles; damaged equipment/property; lost wages; lost production; government fines; lawsuit costs

Court strikes down workers’

compensation exemption for

farms, ranches - The Santa Fe

New Mexican: Local NewsJune 30, 2016

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/




Safety & Health Program Management Rationale

• Business Costs / Economic Loss

– Indirect costs

• Wages paid to injured worker not covered by W.C.

• Wage costs related to time lost through work stoppages

• Administrative time spent filing reports, investigations, etc.

• Employee training and replacement

• Lost productivity to new employee learning curve

• Lost productivity for workers on restricted duty.

• Un-reimbursed rehabilitation time and travel

• Emotional toll: victims are key people, family, close friends; don’t work as efficiently, poor morale

Safety & Health Management Planning – How to get Started!

Injury Prevention Principles:

• Injuries have identifiable causes which are either preventable or controllable.


Injury Prevention Principles:• An injury incident normally derives from multiple causes rather than a

single cause.


Injury Prevention Principles:• Risks are inherent and omnipresent in life but our perceptions of risk

are not very accurate.

Ag Safety & Health Management Planning

1. Management Leadership

2. Employee Participation

3. Hazard Identification and Assessment

4. Hazard Prevention and Control

5. Education and Training

6. Program Evaluation and Improvement

Management Leadership

Owner/Operator – create and promote safety policies, approve, finance, and implement safety improvements

Full-time supervisor – communicate and teach safety policies to all other staff, help maintain safe conditions, perform hazard inspections, submit findings to owner/operator

Statement of commitment to safety

Specific goals and mechanisms for creating & maintaining a safe work environment

Establishes responsibilities and authority

Rules that apply to everyone

Worker has read, understands, will abide…

Signatures

Safety Policy

Worker Involvement

• Form joint employee-management safety committee(s), rotate members.

• Have workers participate in hazard reviews.

• Have workers participate in injury & property damage incidents investigations.

• Have employees make safety suggestions and recommendations (Safety Suggestion Box.)

• Joint development of safety policy.

• Help conduct equipment tests and inspections.

• Recognition & awards programs

Hazard Identification and Assessment

Three actions for each hazard:

1. Identify hazards

2. Evaluate hazards

3. Rank hazards


• Hazard: Any existing or potential condition which, by itself or by interacting with other variables, can result in injury, illness, death, or other losses. Short-hand – potential for causing injury or loss.

• Risk: A measure of the combined probability and severity of possible harm; Short-hand – how likely is it to happen?

Risk Matrix (1)CONSEQUENCE

FREQUENCY

Catastrophic (1) Death, permanent disability

Critical (2)

Disability, > 3 mos.

Marginal (3)

Minor, lost work time

Negligible (4)

First aid, minor treatment

Frequent (A)

Likely to occur; repeatedly

A1

High: shut down now

A2

High: shut down now

A3

Serious: high priority fix

A4

Medium: fix soon

Probable (B)

Likely to occur several times

B1

High: shut down now

B2

High: shut down now

B3


B4

Medium: fix soon

Occasional (C)

Likely to occur

sometime

C1

High: shut down now

C2


C3

Medium: fix soon

C4

Low: Fix or leave as is

Remote (D)

Not likely to occur

D1


D2

Medium: fix soon

D3

Medium: fix soon

D4


Improbable (E)

Very unlikely

E1

Medium: fix soon

E2


E3


E4


Risk Matrix

Risk Matrix (1)CONSEQUENCE

FREQUENCY

Catastrophic (1) Death, permanent disability

Critical (2)

Disability, > 3 mos.

Marginal (3)

Minor, lost work time

Negligible (4)

First aid, minor treatment

Frequent (A)

Likely to occur; repeatedly

Slip on manure

Probable (B)

Likely to occur several times

Gas from agitation & emptying

Crushed foot from cow

stomp

Occasional (C)

Likely to occur

sometime

Entry into pit without

ventilation, SCBA

Entanglement by unguarded

PTO

Kicked by cow

Entry into pit with

ventilation, SCBA

Remote (D)

Not likely to occur

Farmers Lung from moldy

silage

Fall through hay loft drop

hole,

Improbable (E)

Very unlikely

Risk Matrix: Dairying Operations

Consequence

Likelihood

ExtremeDeath,

Permanent disablement

MajorSerious

bodily injury

ModerateCasualty

treatment

MinorFirst aid,

No lost time

Very likely 1 2 3 4

Likely 2 3 4 5

Unlikely 3 4 5 6

Very Unlikely 4 5 6 7

FARSHA Risk Assessment

Score Actions

1,2,3 HIGH: do something about these risks immediately

4,5 Moderate: do something these risks as soon as possible

6,7 LOW: these risks may not need immediate attention

Risk Matrix

Activity

Probability

1-3

Severity

1-4

Exposure

1-3 Total

1 = low

2 = medium

3 = high

1 = negligible

2 = marginal

3 = critical

4 = catastrophic

1 = few + few

2 = few + freq.

3 = many +freq.

P + S + E

1 + 1 + 1 = 3

3 + 4 + 3 = 10

3 & 4 = low, fix or leave as is

5 & 6 = medium, fix soon

7 & 8 = serious,high priority fix

9 & 10 – high, shut down now


FARM-HAT style checklist• Recognizes hazards are not

typically “Yes” or “No”• Allows for ranking of hazard

Farm/Agriculture/Rural Management Hazard

Analysis Tool

Hazard Prevention & Control Principles

An injury incident normally derives from multiple causes rather than a

single cause.

Hazard Prevention & Control Principles

The selection of an injury prevention or control strategy is not dependent upon the rank order or importance of causal factors

Hazard Prevention & Control

Job Safety Analysis

Type of job: Unloading Corn

PPE: Work boots with steel toe, leather gloves

Basic Job Steps Potential Hazards Recommended Actions

Line up the wagon with auger hopper

Hitting equipment; spilling grain causing a slip/fall

Use markers, tractor mirror, helper

Shut off tractor, secure it & dismount

Crushed feet/body from tractor & wagon rolling; slips while dismounting

Shut tractor engine off, use PARK gear or neutral w/ brakes locked. Use chocks if on hill.

Etc.

Education and Training

Definition:• Learning: the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill; the modification

of behavior through practice, training, or experience.

Broad Principles:• Learning as it relates to everyday life involves an individual’s making sense of

what goes on in the world around them.• Each learner has a unique history of life experiences that impacts reflection

and understanding of past and current events and happenings, and for learning new things.

• Learners learn best when they are cognitively, emotionally and physically engaged with the content.


Broad Principles cont.:• Stay away from “causes” and “blame”. • Positive Reinforcement: Safety training is more effective when positive

reinforcement is given for safe behaviors than when negative reinforcement is given for unsafe behaviors.

Learning Task: Integrates teaching and learning as a single concept; teaching occurs within the ‘doing’ of learning.


Learning Task: Use newspaper stories to structure safety conversations

1. Have you ever experienced a hydraulic line rupturing on you?

2. Do you know the right way to block uphydraulic equipment?

3. Have you ever been given instruction on draining hydraulic lines?

4. What recommendations would you give a co-worker for safely working on hydraulically raised equipment?

Education and TrainingLearning Task: Use photos to structure safety conversations

1. What do you think happened that caused the tractor to overturn?

2. Do you think the operator died instantly?

3. What could have been done differently to have kept the tractor from overturning?

4. What could have been done differently to change the outcome once the tractor did roll over?


Job Instruction Technique: a simple yet systematic method for how you teach or train others. JIT has four steps:

1. Preparation: Trainer puts worker at ease; asks what worker already knows; explains why performing job safely is important; training becomes personal

2. Presentation: Trainer demonstrates one step at a time; explains the why(s) of the step not just a robotic copying of the step;worker observes, ask questions

3. Performance: Worker performs the task one stepat a time; explains back to trainer; repeats as

necessary4. Follow-up/Mentoring: Trainer monitors; corrects

actions before bad habits form


Using JIT effectively:• Trainer must know the job thoroughly and be a safe worker• Trainer must have the patience, skills and desire to train• Train with real tools/equipment in real work sites• Adequate time has to be given for the training.

Advantages of training in the JIT method

Worker more easily motivated because the training is personal

Trainer can identify and correct deficiencies as they occur.

Results of training can be immediately evaluated

Training is practical, realistic and demonstrated under actual conditions

which encourage questions and learning.

Safety and Health Management Plan Audits

Purpose: provide an organized and structured review and evaluation of the overall safety and health management program for reducing hazards and risks

Should be conducted at least annually and involve employees

Collect/Use objective & documented information (e.g., records of injury, hazard inspection, hazards or risks abated or controlled, safety training, etc.

Need a method to document what and how the audit is conducted.

Safety and Health Management Plan Audit

Can organize by:

• Major components --Management Leadership, Employee Participation, etc.

• Activities -- Hazard inspections, training programs, incident investigations, etc.

• Topics -- Hazardous materials, noise hazards, regulations compliance, etc.

Activity Score Notes, Action to

Improve

Date

Completed

/ Improved

Are safety inspections being

conducted as scheduled?

6

Are workers using inspection forms

correctly?

4 Training scheduled

for early 2014

Are identified hazards being

corrected quickly enough?

6

Are records of inspections and

corrections being kept?

2 Couldn’t find last 3

monthly

inspections. Need

to organize

inspection files

1/15/14

Have the number of reported

incidents reduced or increased over

the past year?

8

Has the severity of incidents

improved over the past year?

6 Stayed same8 = Excellent; 6 = Good but could be improved; 4 = OK but can do better; 2 = Unsatisfactory; 0 = Failing, improve immediately

Title: Safety and Health Management Planning for General Farmers and Ranchers Code: AGRS-123 Pages: 64 Cost: $17.00

Online: See the video description for a link to this resource.Phone: 877-345-0691

Dennis J. Murphy, PhD, CSP Agricultural Safety & Health

Penn State [email protected]

www.agsafety.psu.edu

Managing Worker Safety and Health

on Dairy Farms

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.agsafety.psu.edu/