Sept. 6, 2012
Farm work is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), agriculture led all other industries in workplace fatalities and injuries, with a fatality rate of 26.8 deaths per 100,000 workers.
With agriculture accounting for nearly 10 percent of Wisconsin’s workforce, safety on the job is vital to prevent injuries requiring a Wisconsin workers’ compensation claim. Agri-View reports the National Farm Medicine Center and Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) have partnered to present safety training sessions to roughly 100 Spanish-speaking dairy workers across the state.
Topics covered during the two training sessions included animal handling, electrical safety, bovine obstetrics, and more. While the final topic may seem out of place, it has been found that during the calving process can be one of the most dangerous times to encounter a cow.
Oscar Duarte, a veterinarian who led the session, stated, “The idea of PDPW doing the obstetrics training and linking it to the safety of the worker is an opportunity for us to tell the worker that you have been trained on how to take care of the cow, now you will learn how to take care of yourself.”
The Oshkosh personal injury lawyers with Sigman Janssen Injury and Disability Lawyers hope that the sessions were successful in providing safety knowledge that workers can take back on the job and share with others.
