COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health offers free podcasts on farm safety and health topics, says University of Missouri Extension health and safety specialist Karen Funkenbusch, who serves on the center’s regional advisory committee.

The twice-monthly “FarmSafe Podcast” kicked off a four-part discussion of ATVs on Sept. 1.

“ATVs are not really all-terrain,” says pediatrician and emergency medicine physician Charles Jennissen. “So when they are on roadways, both paved and unpaved, they have a very unpredictable relationship with the roadway surface. One tire can grab and suddenly—boom—the ATV is rolling over.”

Funkenbusch says the podcasts support the efforts of National Farm Safety and Health Week, Sept. 19-25.

Farmers and their employees and family members often use ATVs to gather livestock, pull trailers and haul small loads. Funkenbusch urges farmers and ranchers to train operators to drive an ATV safely through practice and proper equipment. Emphasize that tired or impaired drivers should not be allowed to operate an ATV.

She recommends a review of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s fact sheet on ATV safety at osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA3758.pdf.

The “FarmSafe Podcast” is available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, RSS and on the GPCAH website at gpcah.public-health.uiowa.edu.

Founded in Iowa in 1990, the center addresses the health and safety needs of agricultural workers in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota.