[AT] Tractor roll-over prevention program

[David Rotigel]

Thanks for the info Carl!
	Dave

On Sep 29, 2010, at 9:44 AM, Carl Tatlock wrote:

>       Dave and others have asked about the ROP program.  It seems to
> be, at least here in Vermont, pretty much funded in part by a $532,000
> grant over 5 years from the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and
> Prevention, and the balance in local sponsors like The Vermont  
> agency of
> Agriculture/Food and Markets; the Vermont Department of Health; the
> Vermont Farm Bureau; and the Cooperative Insurance Companies.  (My son
> is CFO of the Co-Op, so I got the word from the horse's mouth, so to
> speak. The do a largely farm business in Vermont and New Hampshire.)
>
>      The program is patterned after that of New York State which has
> been in place for 5 years.  It will pay up to 70% (up to $765) of cost
> of roll bar and seat kit.  Difficulty in finding appropriate ones are
> the farmers' problem-- the time spent trying to find the right one,
> modification may have to be made to barn door height, etc.  Estimate  
> is
> that about 35% of Vt tractors lack roll bars; New York about 48%.
>
>      University of Vermont Extension estimates that there is a 7 in 10
> chance that a farm that has experienced a roll-over will go out of
> business within a year.  Another source says that about 1 in 10  
> Vermont
> farmers will experience a roll-over in his or her lifetime. Vermont's
> latest fatality was in July of this year.
>
>      Resistance to ROPS, in addition to difficulties mentioned above,
> also lies in the belief- especially among older farmers- that they  
> know
> how to control a tractor, making a ROPS unnecessary, according to the
> National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
>
>     The goal is to reduce risk of death or injury by roll-over to near
> zero.  These programs are certainly a step in the right direction.
>
>    From Carl Tatlock, with thanks to today's Burlington Free Press
> article that provided a lot of facts.