NC Agromedicine Institute official earns top agricultural safety award
LaMar Grafft, associate director of the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute, has been awarded the 2020 Maynard Coe Professional Achievement Award from the International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH).
The award is the organization’s most prestigious honor and recognizes outstanding contributions to the agricultural safety and health industry.
LaMar Grafft (center) earned the 2020 Maynard Coe Professional Achievement Award from the International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH). (Photo taken pre-COVID-19; courtesy of LaMar Grafft)
Criteria for the Maynard Coe Professional Achievement Award includes demonstrating achievement in the practice of agricultural safety and health over a period of several years. The award’s namesake, Maynard Coe, served as director of the Farm Division of the National Safety Council for 20 years and enlisted the help of universities and farm and agricultural organizations in establishing farm safety as a recognized profession.
Grafft, a member of ISASH for more than 20 years, attended the virtual annual business meeting this summer when he learned he would be receiving the award.
“The ISASH president was talking about the award and then said my name; it really caught me by surprise,” Grafft said. “I am humbled to think that my work has been recognized.”
The North Carolina Agromedicine Institute is a consortium of East Carolina University, N.C. State University and NC A&T University. It is housed at ECU and provides safety and health programs for farmers, foresters and fishermen, their families and workers across the state.
Grafft has been with the institute for six and a half years, and before that contributed to some institute projects. He also serves on the Progressive Agriculture Foundation Board of Directors, providing guidance to the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® program. He also volunteered with the Iowa Farm Safety Council and contributed to hurricane disaster relief through supporting recovery and reconstruction efforts.
LaMar Grafft (Photo courtesy of Georgina Langston-Quinn)
The mission of the N.C. Agromedicine Institute is personal for Grafft, who has a first-hand perspective on the farming industry.
“I farmed until I was 35, so I know what farmers have to go through to produce the food and fiber necessary for the survival and comfort of the rest of us,” he said. “I consider farming a calling and a very noble career choice. Helping this group of workers and their families stay safe and healthy could not be unimportant.”
Agriculture, which includes farmers, foresters and fishermen, is the most dangerous occupation in the United States, with a rate of fatalities that is eight times the average of other occupations. According to 2017 Centers for Disease Control data, 416 farmers and farm workers died from a work-related injury, resulting in a fatality rate of 20.4 deaths per 100,000 workers.
“We have over 10,000 contacts with these three groups each year, not casual contact of number of pens taken from a display, but actual interaction,” Grafft said, adding that the institute’s programs help implement changes that affect the daily lives of those who work in agriculture and their families.
Grafft also teaches rain safety to farmers and a 12-hour grain rescue course to fire departments and other rescue personnel.
“Grain rescue is a very technical rescue that could be very risky for the rescuers without the knowledge of the correct way to go about the work,” he said.
Other current institute programs include respirator fit-testing for workers who are at risk of exposure to harmful chemicals or substances during their duties, and addressing stress in the workplace, among many others.