'Tis the season - TO BE CAUTIOUS!
It's harvest time and while it's a time to work, work, work, work when the weather is good, safety has to be remembered.
Fall weather has been incredible this year, meaning farmers can go nearly around the clock in an effort to get needed work done, but success shouldn't, and needn't, come with a tragic price tag.
While I haven't heard of many incidents this year - thankfully - the harvest season does tend to bring to mind tragedies of years past. Last year two small boys, just five and seven, were killed after being sucked into the grain within a grain bin hopper they had been playing in. Like being pulled into the undertow of a strong current, their little lives were lost likely before they even realized they were in danger. And that's the point, children are children. They don't access danger the same way adults do, no matter how grown up or bright we may think them to be.
A grain trailer is not a place for children to play and if there isn't sufficient supervision, they have no business being there in the first place. We may be talking about family farming, but we're also talking about business. Big business in some instances. There is dangerous machinery, many things happening at the same time and hazards around every corner - not your ideal play zone for children.
Most people know this inherently, but most think it can't or won't happen to them and what's worse, many involve their children for the sake of saving hiring an extra hand. You've seen it I'm sure. Little Johnny is 10 now... he's fine to drive tractor, or to pick up dad from the field, after all it's just a little way down the dirt road, or worse yet, the highway.
Guess what? Little Johnny is a child who should be playing, or maybe doing chores around the house or barn if he's needed to help out - he's not a hired farm man who knows the ins and outs of the business no matter if he's been raised in that atmosphere or not.
In another separate incident a man was killed after being crushed by a hay bale he was attempting to move with a front end loader. Was he over tired? Was he asking more of his equipment than it's capable of? I guess the whole point here is to THINK. Use common sense. Harvest time is a busy time with plenty of work to be done. It can be stressful, it's tough fitting everything in, worrying about the bills, the outcome, family time... but is cutting corners and/or being careless really worth it in the end?
