Farm equipment can be very dangerous and there are certain safety precautions you should keep in mind. One of the first and main tips for farm equipment is to always read the manual. Your new piece of machinery may happen to function differently than your old one.

Abide by the federal and state laws with your equipment. These laws have been put into place to keep both you and the people in the community around you safe. It is best to make sure you are keeping up with law changes to avoid getting large fines.

Dressing inappropriately is a huge hazard. You may not think about the impact that something like an untied shoelace, loose long hair, and clothing threads from an old shirt can lead on major injuries when working farm equipment. Just simply dressing appropriately can reduce the risk of live threatening injuries. Be sure you are very well rested.

So many people die in car wrecks throughout the years simply because of tiredness and fatigue; farm equipment carries the same hazzard. Feeling fatigued when using machinery can be dangerous. Make sure you’re taking breaks from work when you need rest and not driving while tired in the slightest bit.

Avoid drinking any alcoholic beverages before or during your machinery operation. Just one drink can harm your ability to operate machinery. Keep alcohol out of the picture until you are completely done for the day.

Check to be sure all of the lights and flashing areas are working to get people’s attention from far away. Adjust all of your equipment accordingly before you start. This means keeping all of the guards, shields, and doors still in place when operating equipment. Making necessary changes to the equipment should be done while stopped and not in motion.

Keep children and animals away from the operation. Know where your children are all the time to dodge a very disastrous accident.

Farming ranks as one of the most dangerous businesses in the U.S. Being stressed with long hours can be risky. When we are dealing with many stressors at one time in our lives we can become distracted. Having these distractions can cause slight errors within the operating of your equipment that leads to major or fatal incidents. This is why proper safety precautions are needed to prevent incidents. When you make a mistake on the farm, you can learn from it and try to correct it so it will not happen again. Abiding by these general safety guidelines can help you dodge accidents and keep you and your loved ones safe.