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OABA highlights safety and risk management during pre-conference event

The Ohio AgriBusiness Association Industry Conference kicked off with its first-ever safety and risk management day.

Jason Nowakowski, chairperson of the risk and safety committee with the Ohio AgriBusiness Association, says it’s critical to offer safety and risk management information in the ag industry.

“These are the issues that impact us day in and day out and it’s a constantly evolving and changing field,” he says.

Attendees learned about effective safety training, transportation, OSHA updates, and the impacts of medical marijuana on the workforce.

Nowakowski says a safety and risk management information track was offered during the conference in previous years, but they wanted to have a pre-conference event with the information so more people could attend.

“We’re impacted by a lot of different regulatory agencies and burdens and as somebody in the risk field, it’s a constant work to find those resources,” he says. “So, the more resources we can pull into one place, the better.”

Ohio Agribusiness Association President and CEO Chris Henney says he was pleased with pre-conference event.

“It’s important that we have our fingers on the pulse of our members and understand what their needs are, and what we’ve heard over and over again is safety and risk within their company and their employees is becoming a more and more important topic and that’s why we wanted to cover it this year,” he says.

The OABA Industry Conference continues through Friday.