By Alexandra McLaughlin
Last year, 19 people died of injuries suffered in farm-related incidents in Pennsylvania, according to researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. This was the same number of people who died of similar farm-related injuries in 2024.
The Penn State Agricultural Safety and Health Program, housed in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and affiliated with Penn State Extension, releases the “Pennsylvania Farm Fatal Injury Summary” each year. Researchers and extension educators use these data to identify hazards in agricultural production and guide the development of training and resources with the goal of making farms safer.
Starting this year, the team is offering a new program: a farm safety walkthrough. This is an individualized program that includes a farm visit to help farmers identify hazards on their operation and develop mitigation strategies to support safer working conditions for everyone on the farm. This program is offered strictly for educational purposes and is not regulatory or enforcement-based. This program is offered to farmers in Pennsylvania at no cost.
Florence Becot, Nationwide Insurance Early Career Professor, who leads agricultural safety and health programs at Penn State and lead author of the annual report, explained that agricultural fatalities can vary widely from year to year, and reported fatalities likely capture only a portion of the problem. It is possible that not all of the agricultural-related fatalities were identified. She also emphasized that nonfatal injuries are even more difficult to track, even if these injuries can significantly impact the victim and their loved ones.
Source : psu.edu