First responders undergo manure fit safety training put on by Nationwide and the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety.
Courtesy | Ohio Farm Bureau Federation
On March 20-21, over 150 local first responders and members of the ag community received specialized manure pit safety and rescue training from Crawford, Marion, Morrow, and Richland county farm bureaus. The training was a result of a partnership between Nationwide and the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) to train first responders, farmers, and agricultural professionals to help protect against manure pit accidents and entrapments.
On average, 60% of deaths on farms that happen in confined spaces involve the people who tried to rescue someone else — a family member, a co-worker, or a rescue worker without the proper equipment.
“It only takes seconds, or a simple mistake, for a loved one in the ag community to find themselves in a dangerous situation when working in a confined space, like a manure pit,” said Brad Liggett, president of agribusiness at Nationwide. “Though manure pit injuries are rare, they have a very high fatality rate when they do take place. We thank NECAS for their partnership to help lead the fight against these hazards, keeping ag workers and their families safe.”
The training utilizes a state-of-the-art manure pit safety simulator that covers proper rescue procedures for safely entering a manure pit in a low-oxygen situation or with a toxic gas hazard and the importance of air-quality, harnessing, rope rigging, rescue tripods, and using a breathing apparatus during and after rescues.
First responders from 30 fire departments and the ag community in Crawford, Marion, Morrow, and Richland counties are some of the first to receive the life-saving manure pit safety training session from Nationwide and NECAS. However, the two parties have teamed up for more than a decade to protect those in the agriculture industry from the life-threatening hazards of grain bin entrapment.
“We are grateful so many fire departments and farmers participated in this training. It’s our goal to provide resources to keep our farmers and rescuers safe in these types of situations,” said Abra Dunn, organization director at Ohio Farm Bureau.
Sponsors of the training were Farm Credit Mid-America, Centerra Co-op, Hord Family Farms, Farmer Boy Ag, The First Citizens National Bank, CSI Insurance, Douce Insurance, Gerber Insurance, and Hempy Water.
Submitted by Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.
