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Show Farm Safety Necessary Pointing to the high cost of accidents as well as the often tragic consequences, an Iron County farm leader this week urged bop farmers and non-farmery to observe National Farm Safety Week, July 25-31. Brent Hunter, president of the Iron County Farm Bureau and a farmer five miles north of town, pointed out that the cost in medical expenses, lost work time-often time-often during a peak production season for food producers-and other losses has led the National Safety Council (NSC) to set this year's theme as "Safety Is a Good Investment." "Last year 5,400 farm residents were killed in accidents and 500,000 were disabled," Hunter said in quoting an NSC estimate. "While that included work, home, recreation and traffic accidents, agricultural work-related accidents claimed nearly 1,900 lives. "Most of those deaths and injuries could have been avoided with careful work habits. Farm Bureau is dedicated to helping make farm and ranch work safer," the farm leader continued, "and we're urging every resident of Iron County to make the last week in July the first week of new safety habits." Most of the interviewing of farmers in a 1975 Utah farm accident survey was done by . Farm Bureau women, Hunter pointed out. That survey showed men-husbands men-husbands and sons-have about 70 percent of the farm accidents, and the percentage per-centage of accidents caused by the leading problem areas are: animals, 23.7 percent; vehicles other than tractors and trucks, 22 percent; and agricultural machinery, 12.7 percent. |