The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) has launched an Ag Safety Pledge Campaign to raise awareness and promote farm safety. The pledge, which started August 1st and runs through the end of September, builds on the 2015 theme for National Farm Safety and Health Week, “Ag Safety is not just a slogan, it’s a lifestyle”. The pledge includes a list of eleven safety reminders that can be followed to make ag safety part of one’s lifestyle.

“With harvest season just around the corner, it’s a good time to review safety practices on the farm and strive to make safety a lifestyle,” said Bruce Alexander, UMASH Director.

Anyone interested in agricultural safety and health is invited to take the pledge on the UMASH website and share it with others to raise awareness and encourage conversations about farm safety using hashtags: #FSHWPledge #Farmsafety #FSHW15

National Farm Safety and Health Week is September 20-26 and is hosted by the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) at Northeast Iowa Community College. For more information, go to: necasag.org

The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) is one of ten Centers of Excellence in Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education, and Prevention funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) throughout the United States. The center is a collaboration of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and College of Veterinary Medicine, the National Farm Medicine Center of the Marshfield Clinic, and the Minnesota Department of Health. This collaboration brings together unique and complimentary expertise to address existing and emerging occupational health and safety issues in agriculture. For more info, visit: umash.umn.edu