National Farm Safety & Health Week - Safety Must Haves From the Flower Field to your yard or farm
Safety pointers from the flower farm to your yard or farm…. It’s National Farm Safety and Health Week, so I thought I would talk about my safety must haves, from head to toe while working in the flower field! I think you will find all these are applicable to your yard or farm. These safety must haves might seem basic, but they are just to show how easy safety can be, yet how important to you it should be!
· Starting at the top, I always wear a cap, not only the perfect vessel to hold all my hair but to shade my face and to protect the part in my hair from burning as my fair skinned scalp is very susceptible to burning. Why does everyone always notice a burnt part, I don’t know but they always do?
· Next to the eyes I almost always have sun glasses on for those sunny days in the field. The glare from white plastic can be brutal on your eyes, but in general it is great to protect your eyes from the sun. When I am mowing on a riding mower or weed eating I, ALWAYS wear safety glasses. From dust, to bugs, to debris in general I want to keep it out of my eyes.
· Just like eyes you have two of these - hands! I don’t want to forget to mention the value of a good pair of gloves. I don’t mind my hands getting dirty, but when direct planting into soil I do like to wear gloves mainly to prevent my hands from drying out. When I am doing more heavy-duty work that includes repetitive movement gloves are a must to prevent blisters and callouses!
· Moving on to the legs, I typically work in capris, as I want to stay cool, but the capris afford me a little more protection that shorts from scrape/scratches and pesky bug bites. However, if I am weed eating it is long pants or capris and my knee-high boots that I wear for ultimate leg protection from everything that I invariably send flying into my legs.
· Down to my toes, there is no substituting good shoes when it comes to foot safety and health. The first year I started flower farming, I wore tennis shoes most of the time (I know, what was I thinking) and then mud boots if it was wet. By the end of that season I was wearing a splint, had almost given myself a stress facture and was being treated for plantar fasciitis. Oh, and don’t forget the braces I had to sleep in at night to keep my feet dorsiflexed while I slept. I thought I would never walk pain free again but guess what I did. I now farm 100% of the time in boots. I have different pairs some for dry weather and some for wet. These boots changed my life!
· For an absolute safety must have, drum roll please, it is without a doubt my sunscreen. I have sunscreen stashed everywhere, my house, my car, my Kubota, even my office at work. For all of those of you who have ever seen me I am sure you noticed I don’t have a tan. I have very fair skin and only if all my freckles joined or if I am covered in dirt would I have tan skin. After a life time of trying different sun screens I now prefer the Neutrogena brand (take a peek at the picture and see what SPF I use, I don’t play around). I use the spray kind that goes on and feels dry. For someone who has sunscreen on pretty much every day, the last thing I want to feel is yucky sticky from sunscreen. I might also mention in general that even if I am not working out on the farm, I always have sunscreen on my face, in both my Neutrogena moisturizer and my Almay foundation. When I am working on the farm, I apply sunscreen before I go out and frequently while working in the field, as I always have it with me. Not to toot my own horn but I just had my yearly dermatologist visit and I received a gold star. To be a farmer and have no areas of concern for your dermatologist when it comes to your skin health, well that is just an accomplishment.
· My last safety tip must have is water or Gatorade. Dehydration is not something to play around with and can be deadly. When I am out in the heat for hours on end there is no doubt that I am sweating out everything I am drinking, but the important part is that I keep on drinking to rehydrate myself. I think you can NEVER drink enough when it is hot, and you are sweating, just be smart about what you are drinking.
When it comes to safety all the things, I mentioned may seem simple and you may think I presented them in a rather light-hearted manner. Safety is so important, but it can be so simple. Unfortunately, because it is so simple, it is often overlooked. You don’t have to work on a farm to employ any of these safety practices that I mentioned. While there are many more safety considerations that we have on the farm, the ones I shared are ones that everyone can easily do! I have shared several times that as a farmer I like to educate and ag-vocate. Thank you for letting me share some of my farm safety tips with you during National Farm Safety and Health Week. Until the next blog….stay safe!