Safety is the control of recognized hazards to reach an acceptable risk level.
A hazard doesn't always affect the person who caused it - the hazard can affect anyone.
Accidents are caused by unsafe behavior or conditions: entering a bunker silo during filling without making eye contact with the tractor operator, standing too close to the feed-out face of an over-filled bunker silo, or entangled in a power takeoff shaft or the front of a forage harvester.
A split second of inattention can cause a fatal accident and nothing will ever be the same again.
Every serious injury or fatal silage-related accident could have been prevented!
We can't create a safety bubble for our family and employees, or a silage program that is hazard-free, but we can put guidelines in place that will significantly reduce the risk of someone being injured or killed on the farm.
It's important that owners and managers discuss safe silage management practices several times a year with their silage team. Injury-related statistics suggest that many employees don't consistently follow the recommended safety guidelines.