Safety is one reason why some producers are trying to keep them out of the workplace.
Convenience. Nuisance. Threat.
Cellphones are ubiquitous in life – which means they are also ubiquitous on dairies. But some milk producers are starting to push back by telling employees to not bring them on the farm.
Two speakers at the Western Dairy Management Conference, March 3 to 5 in Reno, Nev., told me it is a policy that is hard to enforce, but they are still trying to for safety's sake.
The more you think about it, the more sense it makes.
Harry De Wit, who operates three dairies in Texas and one in Ohio, and Donald De Jong, CEO of AgriVision Farm Management in Hartley, Texas, which manages multiple dairies milking about 25,000 cows, said employees without cellphones are better, safer workers.
It's all about having more attention and fewer distractions in a work environment that is filled with potential hazards. Big and easily spooked animals, machinery, moving vehicles, valves and switches, and chemicals are just a few aspects of dairies that demand constant focus by workers.
And that is during daylight and good weather. Darkness and bad weather make those dangers an even bigger risk.
Both men say the policy has holes – employees periodically need their phones for special calls from family members, and so forth – but it does reinforce the farms' emphasis on working while at work and not letting cellphones become a dangerous distraction.
Does your dairy prohibit workers carrying cellphones? Does it sound like a good idea? Please send your comments to hoardswest@aol.com.
(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2015
March 16, 2015
