When it comes to workplace fatalities, few industries are as dangerous as farming and ranching.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 368 farmers and farmworkers died on the job in 2020. While construction had more total deaths, with 1,008, agriculture had the highest death rate of any sector — 18 per 100,000 workers, more than five times higher than the national average for on-the-job fatalities.

National Farm Safety and Health Week is Sept. 19-23, raising awareness of the risks inherent in agriculture and ways farms can keep their employees safe.

“We’re trying to bring that information to the public,” said Knesha Rose-Davison, public health director for AgriSafe Network, a nonprofit organization that seeks to prevent agricultural injuries and deaths. “These are the people producing our food, fuel and fiber.”

The leading cause of death for farmers and farmworkers in 2020 was transportation incidents, including overturned tractors, data from NIOSH shows.

But Rose-Davison said there are many other hazards if producers are not careful. Anecdotally, she referred to accidents working with heavy machinery, livestock and pesticides.

A report from Purdue University also detailed 35 cases in 2020 where farmers either fell or became trapped in grain bins, silos and other storage facilities. Grain entrapments can be deadly, causing suffocation if engulfed.

In addition to fatalities, NIOSH recorded 11,880 injuries on farms last year that required days away from work. That is roughly 32.5 injuries per day.

Stress, anxiety and lack of sleep can all exacerbate the possibility of injury or death working in agriculture, Rose-Davison said.

“When you’re working in farming, agriculture or ranching, you’re typically doing multiple things at once. Those are very long and strenuous days,” she said. “You can make a simple mistake, or not be paying attention or be as alert as you normally would. It can turn into something very traumatic.”

Across the Northwest, wildfire smoke and intense heat also pose a threat to farmworkers during the busy harvest season.

Lawmakers in Oregon and Washington have recently passed new laws to protect workers when temperatures get too high, or air quality becomes unhealthy.

In Washington, workers must get 10-minute paid breaks every two hours when the temperature is at least 89 degrees. The new smoke rule requires employers to provide N95 masks when air quality exceeds a certain threshold for fine particulates.

Oregon’s rules are similar, though heat regulations are enforced when the heat index, rather than air temperature, exceeds 80 degrees.

As of Aug. 4, Oregon OSHA, the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, had at least 19 open inspections involving heat-related allegations. Agency spokesman Aaron Corvin said they expect many of those will result in citations.

However, the highest frequency of complaints were not at farms, but rather warehouses, restaurants and construction sites, Corvin said.

“So far, we’ve seen complaints involving allegations of a lack of water, rest breaks, acclimatization and training,” he said. “We also have other enforcement activities in progress, including evaluations of complaints and ongoing assignments of inspections.”

Edward Kasner, outreach director for the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center at the University of Washington, said wildfire smoke is a unique issue facing the West, and producers have taken notice.

“I think everyone can recognize there’s been a change in recent years,” Kasner said. “The magnitude of smoke levels, and unpredictability of that, is something we’ve heard about.”

Wearing N95 masks is still the best solution when working outside in smoky conditions, Kasner said. Unlike intense heat, farm managers cannot alter their workdays to avoid smoke.

For National Farm Safety and Health Week, PNASH is creating a series of social media posts to promote regional and national resources. Each day is a different theme, from farm vehicle safety to mental health awareness.

Probably the most important thing that anyone in charge can do, Kasner said, is ask their cohorts what they think the biggest on-farm dangers are, and compare notes.

“If there’s a hazard that you feel isn’t being addressed with training content or material, please reach out to us,” he said. “That’s what we’re all about.”