CAB - Agricultural Safety Resource Guide: 1

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Agricultural Safety Resource Guide

1 - INTRODUCTION

Background

Occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities in California agriculture take a horrible toll in human suffering every year. According to information compiled by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and published by AgSafe in the pamphlet, "Occupational Injuries in California Agriculture," nearly 20,000 workers suffer disabling injuries and 40 persons are killed each year working in California agriculture. Unfortunately, the death and injury rates in agriculture have remained consistently high over the years.

There are no winners in an occupational safety incident. Occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities are costly to workers and employers. Injured workers face the cost of human suffering and lost wages. Employers lose money in a variety of ways: an increase in the cost of medical and workers' compensation insurance; loss of productivity; increased staff time to investigate the incident; cost of worker replacement; and damage caused to product and equipment.

The National Safety Council estimates the cost of a disabling injury at $27,000 per incident; the cost of a work related death at $780,000.¹ These figures include the cost of lost wages, medical expenses, administrative expenses and employer costs, and exclude costs of property damage except to motor vehicles. By multiplying these costs by the number of disabling injuries and deaths that occur each year in California agriculture, the figure is impressive. More than $800 million a year is lost to California agriculture by preventable job related injuries, illnesses and fatalities.

There is an old safety slogan that reads, "safety pays." It is clear that safety pays for both the worker and the employer. It is also clear that we must take a more aggressive stance in the area of occupational health and safety.

The way we think about and approach the issue of job safety has changed over the years. In the past, many people believed that "accidents" were unavoidable and a "fact of life." Unfortunately, some people still believe that accidents "just happen," and there is little we can do to prevent them. There is also the belief that some workers are just "accident prone," and employers can do very little to change this situation, except to fire the worker.

Safety professionals today believe that every so-called accident is predictable and preventable. There is no such thing as an "accident." So- called accidents can be prevented. It is the responsibility of the employer to eliminate those hazards that cause accidents, provide workers with personal protective safety equipment, and conduct job related safety training sessions.

There is even a change in the terms used by today's safety professional. Recently the National Safety Council changed the words they use to report safety statistics. The old term "accident" has now been replaced with the term, "unintentional injury." The term "accident investigation" has been replaced with the term "safety incident investigation."

The approach to job safety today is injury and illness prevention. This idea was introduced into California law in 1989. On October 2, 1989, the governor signed into law Senate Bill 198 that made changes to Title 8, Section 3203, of the California Code of Regulations (CCR). These changes required every California employer to have in place, by July 1, 1991, a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP). The program required a safety commitment by management and identification of a person in the company with authority and responsibility for safety and health.

It is now the responsibility of management to have a written IIPP plan. But simply having a written plan is not good enough. The employer must have written documentation that the plan is being implemented. Implementation evidence includes written information detailing safety inspections, safety incident investigations, and records of safety training sessions. (More on Senate Bill 198, or General Industry Safety Order 3203, is presented in Chapter 2, Injury and Illness Prevention.)

In summary, occupational injury, illness, and fatality statistics in California agriculture are alarmingly high and have remained consistently so over the years. California law clearly assigns the responsibility of occupational health and safety to the employer. Agricultural employers must have a written injury and illness prevention program and a person identified by name with the responsibility and authority for safety and health in the company.

Purpose of the Safety Resource Guide

The purpose of this resource guide is to provide the agricultural safety manager and loss control consultant with a packet of information that will be helpful in implementing the company's injury and illness prevention program. But this guide should be viewed as a "starter kit," not as a comprehensive safety book. The field of occupational health and safety is dynamic and changes almost on a daily basis. There are always new laws and regulations adopted, new training materials developed, and new professional development educational classes available.

Since every safety program must be designed to fit the requirements of a particular workplace, each safety manager is encouraged to develop a set of safety guidelines unique to that workplace. Using this guide as a starting point, the safety manager can develop guidelines that can be updated in an on- going process where old materials are discarded and new requirements included. In addition to this booklet, assistance is available from the numerous agricultural organizations, governmental agencies, and private safety companies that are listed here.

Internet access

Because laws and regulations affecting safety issues are constantly changing, information provided in the following pages may become outdated. See the World Wide Web version of this publication hosted by the Center for Agricultural Business (CAB) for the latest updates and changes. It is accessible through CAB's Internet home page at the following address: http://cati.csufresno.edu/cab. Many other agencies and organizations also now have web sites. Therefore we have devoted one entire chapter in this booklet to other safety resources on the Internet.

Acknowledgments

The development of this safety resource guide was undertaken with funding support from the California Agricultural Technology Institute (CATI) and the Center for Agricultural Business (CAB) at California State University, Fresno. A special thanks is extended to CAB Director Dr. Bert Mason for his support of this project. Recognition is also extended to Mr. Steve Olson, editor of CATI's quarterly newsletter, Update. Mr. Olson provided editorial guidance to the publication of this document.

Development of the safety resource guide was directed by Mr. Donald G. Bennett, consultant to CAB's Agricultural Safety Program and director of AgSafe, a non-profit professional development association. The student research assistant who made a major contribution to the research and writing of this guide was Mr. Erik Forsen.

1. National Safety Council, Accident Facts, 1994 Edition. A disabling injury is defined as one which results in death, some degree of permanent impairment, or renders the injured person unable to effectively perform their regular duties or activities for a full day beyond the day of the injury. Administrative expenses includes the administrative cost of public and private insurance, and police and legal costs. Private insurance administrative costs are the difference between premiums paid to insurance companies and claims paid out by them. It is their cost of doing business and is a part of the cost total. Employer costs represent costs incurred by employers as a result of the work injury, such as time spent investigating and reporting injuries, giving first aid, production slowdowns, training of replacement workers, and extra cost of overtime for non-injured workers.

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