Colorado Corn

The High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (HICAHS) is dedicated to the improvement of the occupational health, safety, and well-being of the residents of Colorado, the High Plains, and the Rocky Mountain Region.

Agriculture is one of the most hazardous occupations in the Unites State based on NIOSH statistics. In a typical year, approximately 800 individuals lose their lives while working in U.S. agriculture. An additional 150,000 suffer debilitating injuries and illnesses, and a large number of deaths due to occupational disease go unreported. Alarmingly, large numbers of farm accidents involve children. All of these deaths and disabilities greatly affect the social and economic well-being of rural communities in the region. Because of these factors, there is a need for HICAHS.

HICAHS has served the agricultural population of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota for more than 10 years. The overarching goals of HICAHS are to reduce agricultural injury and illness through focused research, education, and intervention.

Project Purpose

Nationally, agriculture ranks as the 2nd most dangerous occupation (2nd only to mining). There is a need to understand how to effectively change the safety culture on a farm.

Project Overview

• Send an associate to the field to visit the top and bottom 10 – 20% loss policyholders to evaluate their beliefs, perceptions, behaviors and barriers to safe work practices and operations and research clues to effective change.
• Increase awareness of safe work practices; indentify opportunities for intervention/education. Knowledge from this project will enable the development of effective educational and outreach products and services.