National Farm Safety and Health Week
The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) has announced that September 21-25, 2026, is National Farm Safety and Health Week. This year’s slogan is “Safety Today, Success Tomorrow.”
Fall harvest time can be one of the busiest and most dangerous seasons of the year for the agriculture industry. For this reason, the third week of September has been recognized as National Farm Safety and Health Week. This annual promotion initiated by the National Safety Council has been proclaimed as such by each sitting U.S. President since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. National Farm Safety and Health Week is led by the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety, the agricultural partner of the National Safety Council.
NECAS said the 2022 data for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the agricultural sector is still the most dangerous in America with 417 fatalities.
Access their website at https://www.necasag.org/ for links to free webinars throughout the week. Some examples are:
- These Shared Roads: Using Stories in Rural Roadway Safety Education
- Noise in Agriculture: An Overlooked Occupational Hazard
- The Cost of Fatigue in Agriculture: Practical Solutions to Protect Workers and Increase Productivity
- Confined Space Safety in Agriculture
- Boots, Bales, Biopsies: Women’s Health on the Farm
Additionally, there are several grain bin safety videos available.
Another key resource is Purdue University’s “Indiana Prepared” (INPREP) website at https://www.purdue.edu/engineering/ABE/INPREPared/. Besides weather-related resources, find information on combine and field fire prevention and safety, along with many other helpful resources, news, and curricula.
During harvest season, farmers and farm hands should remember that augers and other PTO-powered equipment present a real and present danger of entanglement. Make sure all safety guards are in place and functioning properly, and be mindful of frayed clothing or any action that could lead to entanglement. Stay clear of PTO shafts. In my lifetime, I have known those who have become entangled. The familiar statement by surviving family members is, “He had done that a hundred times before.” Try not to become complacent.
Finally, remember that we all share the roads this harvest season. Stay alert and slow down around farm equipment traveling roads. When you see flashing lights and the orange and red Slow-Moving Vehicle (SMV) triangle on equipment, that’s your cue to immediately exercise caution.