Peoria Standard

Illinois state Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) is raising awareness about free webinars being given to discuss farm safety practices during National Farm Safety and Health Week.

The senator announced the event in a Facebook post this week.

"Each day during National Farm Safety & Health Week, AgriSafe will host two FREE webinars to advance farm safety practices!" Barickman said in the post.

The post included a link to a webinar signup form. The series of webinars is organized by the AgriSafe Network, and the list of topics can also be found on that page.

in 2019, there were 573 fatalities in the agricultural sector, the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety said. The third week of September is designated National Farm Safety and Health Week because the fall harvest time is busy and perhaps one of the most dangerous seasons for farmers and farm workers.

The theme for this year’s National Farm Safety and Health Week in Illinois is “Protecting Agriculture’s Future,” Gov. JB Pritzker announced in a recent Illinois Department of Agriculture release.

“As we enter the hectic harvest season, it is more important than ever to follow best practices to safeguard farmers’ and farm workers’ safety,” Jane Flanagan, acting director of the Illinois Department of Labor, said in the release. “Now is the time to remind employers and farm workers to put safety first, especially around grain storage facilities, which can be especially risky.”