Welcome to the ACRE

The Agronomy Center for Research and Education, ACRE, is an outdoor laboratory for Purdue Agriculture. Used for field research and hands-on teaching, the 1,135 acre farm is a busy place with faculty, staff, student, and visitor activity. I am Jim Beaty. I have been Superintendent of the ACRE since 1986. With my four full time staff members, part time help, and student employees we are responsible for operating the research farm. About 53 university researchers conduct projects here at the ACRE. I plan to write about our research, visitors, and farm safety thoughts.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

ACRE Safety Thought #58

What is a pinch point? For work place purposes it is any place on a machine where a part of the body can get caught between two parts. Safety guards are most often used to shield workers from these hazards. But some pinch points are impossible to guard and require user judgment. An example is pinching your fingers or hand in a slammed doorway. Identified agricultural hazards at ACRE would include the area between a tractor and an implement. The risk hazard increases when hitching an implement to a tractor, especially if two people are involved. A direct line of sight is only one aspect that is critical to safe hitching. Another hazard is after a machine is stopped for repair or adjustment. It is critical that the energy of the machine be released or locked out. Remember every machine doing mechanical work can have pinch points. Injuries for powerful farm machinery can be very serious. So think, plan, train, and work safely at ACRE. Jim

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