Agricultural Safety Seminars

Agriculture safety seminar overview

Our popular series of safety workshops for agricultural employers is back. The seminars will be held throughout Oregon from fall 2008 to spring 2009.

The free, half-day, comprehensive seminars are designed for owners, operators, supervisors and foremen — although anyone working in the agricultural industry is welcome to attend.

Twenty-four seminars will be held in 16 cities throughout Oregon beginning in October and ending in March. Four seminars — in The Dalles, Hillsboro, Salem, and Wilsonville — will be conducted entirely in Spanish.

Small agricultural employers attending the seminar will meet one of the four requirements that exempt small agricultural establishments from random OSHA inspections. Attending this seminar meets the instructional requirement.

To see the full schedule or to register, click on the English or Spanish Sessions tabs above.

Seminar Topics

Risk management principles
Human error and risk-taking behaviors — not dangerous conditions — cause most workplace injuries. Making Oregon agriculture safer is a big challenge, but also a great opportunity. Understanding the principles of risk management and the leadership techniques that really work to reduce injuries will be the focus of this session.

Fatal hazards
Agriculture is the nation's most dangerous industry, with over 28 deaths per 100,000 workers (according to the National Safety Council). In many of those cases, the worker didn't fully understand the risks involved and was killed doing something he or she had done many times in the past. This session is designed to provide you with practical ways to help protect your workers from some of the most common hazards in a wide variety of agricultural settings.

Pesticide safety
You'll learn ways to recognize pesticide poisoning, better understand toxicity for the various classes of pesticides, and why reading the label is so important. In addition, you also will receive some very practical pesticide handling safety tips. Note: This session provides attendees with one hour of credit to maintain pesticide certification.

Farm shop safety
The shop is the heart of many ag operations. In this session you'll review the most common safety violations and get helpful suggestions on how to avoid injuries, stay in compliance, and use the farm shop to set higher standards for other work areas. In addition, you'll leave this session with a helpful checklist to use when you return to your business.

Seminar presenters

Kirk Lloyd
Kirk Lloyd is President of Risk Management Resources, Inc. Kirk has worked in the farm safety field since 1988, and has managed his own consulting firm since 1996. He was raised on a working family farm and earned a degree in agricultural economics from the University of Idaho in 1979. His company provides practical consulting services and informative training seminars to help Northwest growers manage employees, improve safety results, and reduce exposure to Oregon OSHA compliance problems.

Kevin Pfau
Kevin Pfau is a senior safety management consultant at SAIF Corporation. Kevin specialized in farm and ranch underwriting for State Farm Insurance before coming to SAIF. Kevin brings a strong farming background to this seminar and to SAIF, with personal experience in onions, grass seed, and livestock.  He earned his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Oregon State University, is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and a certified Oregon workers' compensation claims examiner. 

Edgard Antonio Garcia
Four seminars will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Edgard Antonio Garcia has an extensive background in Spanish translation and interpretation and has worked with Andalex Language Services, Pacific Interpreters, Early Head Start Family Services of Portland, Freightliner LLC, Vesta Corp., AT&T, Sprint, and more. He received his certificate in personnel administration and human resources from the U.S. Navy and his degree in Spanish language and literature from Lewis & Clark College. Edgard has been a part of SAIF's Spanish agricultural safety seminars for the past five years.

Albany l Bandon l Boardman l Clackamas l Eugene l Hillsboro l Hood River l Klamath Falls l Madras l Medford l Monmouth l Ontario l Pendleton  l Salem l The Dalles l Wilsonville

Sorted by date

Hillsboro
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Tuality Health Education Center [ Address/map ] 334 SE 8th Avenue Session runs 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., 9:00 a.m. sign-in. Lunch provided.  Register Now