Section B - Page 18 September 19, 2011 • Let Them Know You Read COUNTRY FOLKS •
“SAFETY SAVVY” Affiliated with Bassett Healthcare One Atwell Road Cooperstown, N Y 13326 607-547-6023 800-343-7527 jcarrabba@nycamh.com
NYCAMH delivers farm safety training to 4,516 people in 45 New York counties last year! by James J. Carrabba, The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health-NYCAMH NYCAMH offers educational farm safety services to the farming community throughout the state of New York. These services include on-site farm safety training, onfarm safety surveys, and farm safety presentations for rural communities, agricultural education programs, 4-H groups, and agribusiness meetings. This service is made possible by a grant from the New York State Department of Labor Hazard Abatement Board. All of these services are offered at no cost to the New York farming community through this grant funding. During the last complete year of the grant, NYCAMH was able to provide direct contact farm safety training to 4,516 people in 45 different New York counties. Last year, nearly every county in New York had some type of NYCAMH farm safety training educational event or onfarm safety survey! Here is a breakdown of the numbers of people that received direct contact farm safety training last year: • Number of individuals trained on farms: 2,522 • Number of individuals trained in other farm safety presentations: 1,994 Here is a breakdown of the farm safety educational events that were delivered: • On-farm safety surveys: 44 • On-farm safety training sessions: 257 • Total of all other farm safety educational presentations: 117 Here is a sample of some of the comments from farm owners about the NYCAMH farm safety training sessions conducted at their farms: “Refreshed safety habits and raised safety awareness” “Saves on insurance/ accidents/loss of work” “Bilingual services are
great” “Helps them comply with audits” “NYCAMH was able to provide a visit on short notice” “Personal awareness of safety issues” “No accidents” “Shows employers
care” “Employees know that their safety is important to the owner” We are very pleased to announce that once again NYCAMH has been awarded another year of the New York State Department of Labor Hazard Abatement Board funding to provide farm safety educational services anywhere in New York. The new grant year started on Aug. 1. We extend a sincere thank you our friends in the New York Agriculture com-
munity that have supported this program so much over the years. To schedule a farm safety survey, on-farm safety training session or farm safety presentation, contact Jim Carrabba, Agricultural Safety Specialist at 800-343-7527, ext. 239. NYCAMH, a program of Bassett Healthcare Network is enhancing agricultural and rural health by preventing and treating occupational injury and illness.
NYCAMH Farm Safety Educator Anna Meyerhoff delivering safety training to orchard workers. Photos courtesy of The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health-NYCAMH