Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH) named Jan Goldsmith, of Des Moines, Iowa, the 2009 recipient of its Agricultural Safety and Health Hall of Fame Award.
Over the course of her 17-year career in the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, Goldsmith, a registered nurse, has witnessed the 1986 passage of Iowa’s primary seat belt law and a steady increase seat belt usage in the state. A recent study shows 93 percent of Iowa motorists are buckling up which places Iowa among the top 10 states in the nation and well beyond the national average of 73 percent. Goldsmith’s efforts contributed to that success.
Jan Goldsmith has contributed to the reduction of significant injury and fatalities in Iowa,” said J. Michael Laski, former director of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau.
Goldsmith’s interest in farm safety stems from living on an Adams County farm for 57 years. In that time, she witnessed neighbors, friends and her father die from preventable farm injuries. She joined the I-CASH Advisory Council in 1998 and served on the planning committees for the Midwest Rural Agricultural Safety and Health conference in 2003 and 2004.
As chair of the I-CASH Producers Committee the past two years, Goldsmith helped spearhead the initiative to raise rural roadway safety awareness through the “It’s Preventable” campaign. She was instrumental in obtaining grant funding to promote rural roadway safety in 2009. Additionally, Goldsmith helped organize statewide and regional meetings on the issue of rural roadway safety in Iowa bringing together stakeholders to develop a statewide plan. Her philosophy is ‘by working together, more can be accomplished.’
“Most individuals go on with their personal lives after retirement and usually don’t continue with their volunteer work. Not Jan. She gives it her all,” said Chris Petersen, president of the Iowa Farmer’s Union.
I-CASH created the Hall of Fame Award in 2002 as a lifetime achievement award for individuals or organizations that have made significant and lasting contributions to agricultural safety and health in Iowa.