DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN WHEN USING A SKID STEER

These mini workhorses are fun to operate and make chores go quickly. But injuries can occur if safety isn’t top of mind.

- Lisa Foust Prater

Skid steers are becoming standard equipment on farms, and with good reason: They make quick work of all kinds of chores, from hauling bags of feed to clearing snow. With the plethora of attachments available and their ability to maneuver in tight spaces, skid steers are invaluable.

If you don’t own one of these small-butmighty machines for daily chores, you can still rent one for special projects. In either case it’s important to remember that while skid steers may be fun to operate, they’re still dangerous.

“Skid steers are like little Sherman tanks,” says Dan Neenan, a paramedic and director of the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS). “Make sure you’re ready to be a competent operator.”

Incidents, Not Accidents

According to a study by experts at the University of Florida and the National Farm Medicine Center, based on statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 20% of skid steer injuries and fatalities occur because the operator bypassed built-in safety features.

“I’m not calling these accidents; they are preventable incidents,” Neenan says.

“Despite all we know, people still do things like cut the top of the cage off.”

Most often, fatalities result from crushing injuries, the study shows. “Remember: Your skid steer runs by hydraulics,” Neenan says, “which means something’s moving. And if something’s moving, that means there are pinch points and crush points.”