Atlanta Daily World

Farm Safety Week Is Being Observed

The ninth annual National Farm Safety Week will be observed July 20-26. The local chapter of the National Safety Council announced this week.

The general theme of this year's observance, which is jointly sponsored by the National Safety Council and the U. S. Department of Agriculture, will be: "Adopt right attitudes toward farm safety: think safety, act safely."

"Accidents to farm residents can be reduced," said Ned H. Dearborn, president of the National Safety Council. "if farmers adopt the right attitude toward farm safety. When the right attitude is present, individuals are receptive to safety advice. It is our hope that we can convince farmers that farming the right way is farming the safe, efficient way."

The Greater Atlanta Safety Council pointed out that on the basis of past records a total of 15,000 farm residents will die in accidents and over a million others will be injured in the next 12 months.

Accidents will kill 41 farm residents a day. Every 24 seconds a disabling injury will strike a farm resident. One out of 19 farm residents will be killed and over 200,000 injured in motor vehicle accidents. About 4,000 farm residents will be killed in farming accidents. One out of six farms will be the scene of an accidental injury.

There are 1,200,000 fewer farm workers than there were 10 years ago, the local council said. This makes each man's output more important. Moreover, during the present crisis, unskilled workers may have to be added to the farm labor force; so the likelihood of accidents may increase.

The council urges each farmer to study his attitude towards safety, be sure it's the right attitude. A farmer who avoids accidents is thinking safety and acting safely, doesn't commit an unsafe act, does not tolerate an unsafe condition. That's the right attitude.