Services of the Certified Safe Farm Program

The Occupational Health Screening

The CSF program starts when they make an appointment at their local AgriSafe Clinic for the occupational health screening. When the appointment is made the farmer will be sent an occupational history form which reviewed by the nurse prior to the screening to determine the specific risks for the particular farmer based on their type of work and possible exposures. Throughout the screening process, the farmer is provided education on their specific risks and results from the screening.

Demographic History Form work history

• chemical use and exposure
• exposure to loud noises
• injuries and illnesses
• family history of disease
• Blood pressure
• medication use
• personal protective equipment (PPE) use
• stress levels

General Wellness Screening

• BMI
• Snellen vision test

Health Screening

• Spirometry
• Lung assessment
• Audiology screening
• Cholesterol test
• Skin assessment
• Musculoskeletal exam
• Cholinesterase test (if applicable)
• General male/female health

If health conditions are identified, the farmer is educated on the specific health condition, possible work exposures or habits that may have contibuted to the condition, and treatment options. If the client consents, the nurse will write a referral to the patients family physician or specialist along with the test results. Approximately 6 months after the farmers initial visit, the nurse will contact them to see if they following the nurses advice and seeking treatment. If they are not, the nurse will ask why not and reinforce to the client that seeking treatment for their condition is important. If border-line health conditions are identified such as weight, blood pressure levels, cholesterol levels, lung assessment results etc. the nurse educates the farmer on the importance of monitoring these conditions and ways to manage the risk.

The screening concludes with the nurse and the farmer developing a Health and Safety Goals Sheet. The health goals will include such goals as losing so many pounds of weight, eating better, dieting, and seeking further healthcare if needed. The safety goals will consist wearing proper respiratory protection or hearing protection when needed, developing a safe play area for children, or to allow the coop to spray agrichemicals on their farm.

The On-farm Safety Review

• Identify health and safety hazards
• Assess health and safety hazards
• Score farm according to standards
• Remediate health and safety hazards – facilitate the producer to obtain CSF status
• Educate farmer about health and safety hazards

The Certified Safe Farm on-farm safety review is designed to identify, assess and remediate health and safety hazards in the workplace environment found on family farms. CSF farm safety reviewers, trained by University of Iowa safety specialists, conduct the on-farm safety reviews using the CSF farm review tool.

Through utilization of the training received at The University of Iowa and the farm review tool, reviewers are able to identify certain health and safety hazards found on farms. The tool provides guidelines for conducting the farm safety review and ensures high risk areas are inspected by the farm reviewer. During inspection, the reviewer will identify areas of concern and note this in the review tool.

Once a risk is identified, the farm reviewer will assess the potential health and safety risks of the hazard and discuss these concerns with the accompanying farmer. The review tool’s deduction of points for individual hazards is an indicator of the relevant importance of each hazard. The higher the point deduction, the higher the risk.

After a risk has been identified and assessed, the reviewer will provide education to the farmer about the hazard. This will include a discussion about the risks of the hazards and possible remediation methods. The farm reviewer provides only education and advice on how and why to remediate hazards; the reviewer does not remove hazards from the farm. It is one of the goals of CSF that the farmer will take ownership over the program and their safety to make the corrections themselves.

After a review is completed, the farm reviewer sends the completed farm review tool to The University of Iowa for data entry. A 3 page summary report is generated that details the farms score, specific risk areas, and safety recommendations which is sent to the farmer, the safety reviewer, and the nurse. A letter and corrective action sheets accompany the 3 page summary to the farmer. The letter explains the 3 page summary report and that the corrective action sheets are what the farmer records changes made to the farm on because of the education provided during the farm safety review.