A white paper entitled Agricultural Equipment on Public Roads is under development and will target the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), law enforcement, state DOTs, state agriculture departments, county governments, farm equipment manufacturers, standard-setting organizations, and others as appropriate. The white paper will establish research and outreach programmatic direction and priorities to promote the reduction of occupational safety and health hazards and risks associated with agricultural equipment on public roads.
Agricultural Equipment on Public Roads is a priority agenda item of the North Central Education/Extension Research Activity-197 (NCERA-197) committee, which is comprised of research and extension faculty in colleges of agriculture at land-grant universities. The group developed and authored a national agenda for action, identifying a list of 12 prioritized areas of research and extension.
The white paper will identify the key issues and actions research questions, outreach priorities, policy legislation, and standards development at the federal, state, and local levels must address. A preliminary outline for the white paper includes sections on transportation, horse drawn vehicles, high-speed tractors, lighting and signage, licensing of drivers, transportation of workers, and the rural/urban interface.
On behalf of NCERA-197, NIFA invites individuals with knowledge and expertise within any of the listed sections to contribute to the white paper and/or be a reviewer. Contact the section chairs directly for more information.
Transportation:
John Slocombe, Kansas State University; slocombe@ksu.edu; 785-532-2926
Horse Drawn Vehicles:
Dennis Murphy, Pennsylvania State University; djm13@psu.edu; 814-865-7157
High Speed Tractors:
Bobby Grisso, Virginia Tech; rgrisso@vt.edu; 540-231-6538
Lighting and Signage:
Bob Aherin, University of Illinois; raherin@uiuc.edu; 217-333-9417
Licensing of Drivers:
Connie Baggett, Pennsylvania State University; bbc@psu.edu
Transportation of Workers:
John Meyers, NIOSH; jom5@cdc.gov; 304-285-6005
Rural/Urban Interface:
Chuck Schwab, Iowa State University; cvschwab@iastate.edu; 515-294-4131