EMERGING ISSUES | AVIAN INFLUENZA | EVENTS | CONTACT

SPOTLIGHT: What to Do About the Respirator Dilemma During COVID-19

MAY 2020 Producers and farmworkers face a dilemma during COVID-19. If a pesticide label lists a respirator, the applicator must wear a respirator. It’s legally required. So what does the farmer or farmworker do when the respirator isn’t available? To answer this question, we contacted experts at the National Pesticide Safety Education Center (NPSEC) …

SPOTLIGHT: Safety Should be a Team Sport in Dairies

MAY 2020 Dr. Gus Brihn is a Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine Resident with the Center for Animal Health and Food Safety at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Brihn is part of our UMASH team with the Promoting Worker Health and Safety for Immigrant Dairy Workers project and has been instrumental in providing insights of the veterinarian’s …

SPOTLIGHT: You’re in Charge

MAY 2020 The University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing is working to address the needs of communities during these challenging times.  You’re in Charge Maria Bertrand UMASH Student Communications Specialist You are greeted with a colorful 6-pronged wheel. “Enhance your wellbeing,” it says. The wheel is divided …

SPOTLIGHT: Ag Educators Keep our Future Farmers Safe

MAY 2020 The current pandemic has required agricultural educators to be more creative than ever. To assist with teaching about agricultural safety and health during the age of online learning, we’ve created lesson plans, resources, and tips on a variety of agricultural safety and health topics at www.umash.umn.edu/AgEd. 2020 FFA Infographic This infographic …

SPOTLIGHT: Protecting our Agriculture Workers is “Essential”

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical importance of those who produce our food. Deemed “essential” workers, these individuals continue to milk our cows, process our meat, plant our crops and harvest of our food. They do this while many of us have switched to a virtual, online world from the classroom to the office. And in many cases their work continues as usual but at great risk. …

SPOTLIGHT: Safe Digging Tips, Myths, & Facts

811 is the national number designated by the Federal Communications Commission to help protect homeowners and professional excavators from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines while working on digging projects – large and small. …

SPOTLIGHT: Training Dairy Workers on Health and Safety

 APRIL 2020 Chela Vázquez Coordinator and Trainer vazquezc@umn.edu It’s been two years since I joined UMASH doing trainings on health and safety in Spanish for dairy workers in Minnesota. My job entails going to dairy farms, meeting workers and engaging them in discussion about potential injuries on the farm and ways to prevent it. I have learned …

SPOTLIGHT: Stop Think Act: Safety in 3 Words

 APRIL 2020 Our neighbors to the North in Canada, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS), with Imperial Oil, have developed a simple, but effective reminder to practice safety and health on the farm. It is only three words but says it all when preventing injuries or other tragedies from occurring. Stop Think Act is just one tool to encourage …

SPOTLIGHT: Respirator Q & A Toolkit

Farmers and agricultural workers need respiratory protection for many jobs on the farm – such as working around grain, hogs, hay, or solid pesticides. …