Suffocation in a manure slurry pit. Being attacked and crushed by a bull. Being crushed by an 1800 pound bale of hay. Being run over by heavy farm equipment. These aren’t the things you think of when you drive by a pastoral, picture-postcard scene of a herd of grazing dairy cows. Yet dairy farms are among the most hazardous and deadly work environments in the nation.
In this month’s Risk & Insurance, Cyril Tuohy discusses how OSHA is ramping up inspections at Wisconsin dairy farms – partly in response to the death of a migrant worker last spring in a manure pit – and in response to an overall high industry fatality rate.
Of the industry’s lethality, Tuohy reports:
The labor statistical category for dairy farming, which includes all agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, reported 26 fatal work-related injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2009, the latest year for which numbers are available. That gives this occupational category the highest ratio among all categories.
Its fatality rate is more than double the No. 2 deadliest category, the mining sector with its 12.7 fatal work-related injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, the BLS statistics reveal. Transportation and warehousing (12.1 fatal injuries), construction (9.7 fatal injuries) and wholesale trade (4.9 fatal injuries) round out the top five deadliest occupations.
There were a total of 551 deaths reported in 2009 in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, up from 286 fatalities reported in 2008. A total of 4,340 workers died in 2009 in all sectors, down 17 percent from 5,214 in 2008.
In his paper Dairy Farm Safety and OSHA – Approaches for effective management and worker training David Douphrate discusses the most common safety hazards in dairy farms:
One of the most common causes of death and serious injury on farms is related to the heavy equipment required to run a dairy farm. A high number of farming fatalities are due to tractor turnovers. Other causes of fatalities include silage bunker collapse, manure pits, tractor power take offs (PTO) and large animals such as dairy bulls.
Recent research studies show that the two main causes of workers’ injuries (fatal and non-fatal) are incidents with machinery and animals [Mitloehner and Calvo 2008]. Machine-related accidents include tractor rollovers, being run over by tractors and being entangled in rotating shafts. Animal-related injuries include kicks, bites, and workers being pinned between animals and fixed objects. Other causes of injuries include chemical hazards, confined spaces, manure lagoons, use of power tools, and improper use or lack of personal protective equipment [Mitloehner and Calvo 2008].
Douphrate’s paper also documents the most common citations that resulted from 736 diary inspections between 2000 to 2010:
* Lack of proper injury and illness prevention program.
* Lack of work injury recording and reporting.
* Lack of mounting or proper tagging of portable fire extinguishers.
* Inadequate communication program about hazardous chemicals.
* Inadequate process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals.
* Inadequate hazardous waste operation management and emergency response.
* Inadequate respiratory protection.
* Lack of roll-over protective structures (ROPS).
* Inadequate guarding floor and wall openings and holes.
* Inadequate eye and face protection.
* Inadequate medical services and first aid.
* Inadequate guarding of field and farmstead equipment.
An industry fueled by immigrant workers
As damning as some of the injury and death statistics are, the reality might be even worse. Many farm workers may be reluctant to report injuries due to their illegal, undocumented status – a fact that makes these workers an easy population to exploit. A 2009 article in High Country News documented this Dark Side of Dairies, portraying a broken system that leaves immigrant workers invisible – and in danger. According to the article:
The majority of the West’s nearly 50,000 dairy workers are immigrants, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture sociologist William Kandel. Many of them are undocumented, monolingual Spanish speakers like Gustavo. Such workers are unlikely to report injuries or file claims with the state for money to recover medical bills and missed pay for fear of getting fired or deported.
To make matters worse, agricultural workers are not afforded most of the federal labor law protections that are extended to workers in other industries.
Other dangerous industries, such as meatpacking, logging and construction, have specific safety standards mandated by state or federal labor agencies. While dairies fall under the general agricultural safety regulations for tractors and heavy machinery, there are no specific standards for how workers should be protected while milking or moving cows. Dairy workers in Washington, Nevada, Oregon and California are entitled to lunch and rest breaks, but legal aid organizations in these states say the laws are rarely enforced.
What dairy operations can expect from OSHA
An article in Hoard’s Dairyman discusses OSHA’s dairy initiative and talks about what dairy farms might expect:
As OSHA begins to take a closer look at dairy farms, there are a number of areas they will be evaluating. “If you have grain bins, and many dairies do, they will look at procedures for the confined space entry,” says Carter. “Perhaps a bigger concern will be manure pit guarding. The State of Wisconsin requires guarding per your manure pit application. Many states may have similar rules,” he notes.
The article also offers advice to farmers for what to do if OSHA makes a visit, and what the range of fines are for violations.
