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Why farm safety starts with people

Farm safety is a hot topic, and one that’s highly personal for many people in this industry.

As we discussed in ‘How the agriculture sector is pulling together to promote farm safety’, farm safety is unique in many ways. For instance, in no other industry do operators typically live and raise their families in the same place where they work. And in many instances, their employees are their family, friends and neighbours.

And yet, farming is one of the highest risk occupations in Canada. According to Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, there were an average of 17 farm-related deaths per year, between 1985 and 2010.

To put that number in perspective, it’s worth noting two things:

    1. Farm injury statistics do not differentiate between work related injuries on farms, and non-work related injuries.
    2. Because agriculture plays such a large role in Alberta’s economy and there are so many farms, the ratio of fatalities to the number of farms is one of the lowest rates of any province in Canada.

Is legislation the answer?

In Alberta, agriculture was exempt from provincial Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation, but Bill 6 has changed that. OHS now applies to agriculture in Alberta. But there is dispute as to whether simply passing such legislation is really effective in reducing farm injuries. In provinces such as B.C., which included agriculture in OHS legislation in 2005, and Ontario, which did the same in 2006, there has been no significant impact.

In fact, in 2013, 42 per cent of Canada’s farm fatalities were in Ontario, on just 25 per cent of the nation’s farms.

Creating a culture of safety

If legislation has not proven to be the answer, then perhaps the solution must come from within the industry itself. We believe that reducing on-farm injuries and fatalities depends on creating a culture of safety that is built collaboratively by everyone involved in the industry.

This view is supported by recommendations made to the Minister of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (PDF), by the Farm Safety Advisory Council in 2012. They advocated the establishment of a province-wide coordinating body to provide leadership, expertise and direction for farm safety awareness, education, training and certification.

Among their recommendations were an increase in educational resources, training and certification, as well as industry best practices, and government guidelines and policies.

What is safety culture?

Just as corporate culture can be defined by the values, beliefs and attitudes of people within an organization, so safety culture is characterized by the pervading behaviours and attitudes towards safety.

When organizations start to value safety as a practice, and to develop the practices and protocols in support of safe behaviours, then everyone within that organization is safer.

Some recent or ongoing farm safety initiatives with which the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association has been involved include:

For more information, check out the Farm Safety Advisory Council’s Recommendations to the Minister of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, on Enhanced Farm Safety Education and Training.

Stay tuned as we continue to explore farm safety issues in upcoming blog posts. In the meantime, you can read our previous posts on the topic: ‘How safe is farm equipment’, and ‘How the agriculture sector is pulling together to promote farm safety’.

How safe is farm equipment?

Statistics show us that agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries in Canada. But statistics don’t always tell the whole story. As we learned in ‘How the agriculture sector is pulling together to promote farm safety’, it’s hard to compare farming to other industries, because so many people live where they work. Without data that separates work-related incidents from non-work related incidents that happen on farms, the statistics are very hard to interpret.

One thing that’s certain, though, is that farm equipment is a major cause of injuries. According to Glen Blahey, agricultural health and safety specialist at the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, “machinery is one of the predominant causes of injury simply because of the frequency of use. After machinery, it tends to be livestock and then slips, trips and falls.”

What is being done about equipment injuries?

First and foremost, equipment manufacturers have taken great strides in making equipment safer to operate. “Equipment design has improved very significantly over the years,” said Glen, “and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has a technical committee that looks specifically at agricultural machinery. They look at it from a design perspective, in terms of how to keep that equipment as functional as possible and yet as safe as possible.”

The missing piece, in many instances, is the ability of the end user to operate that machinery effectively.

“It’s not necessarily that the equipment is dangerous or has unsafe features in it,” Glen explained, “but rather that there is operator error or a lack of adequate training. There may even be a lack of adequate protocol practices that are set out to the people who are going to be operating the equipment.”

Training and awareness is improving due to the availability of training, both online and in person. But when it comes to enforcing those protocols, that’s where farm operators and owners have to truly step up.

“I believe that there is a growing awareness and understanding in regards to overall safety and health and wellbeing,” concluded Glen. “The next generation of farmers coming up is more conscious of environmental issues, and more conscious of what people think of the agriculture industry. Additionally they have a higher awareness of the implications of an injury and of sustaining permanent disability injuries.”

There’s still a great deal of progress to be made, but Canada’s beef industry, and farmers everywhere are committed to continued improvement. Representatives are currently participating in consultation sessions regarding the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act (Bill 6).

You can read more about farm safety in our Farm Safety Policy Statement, and in ‘How the agriculture industry is pulling together to promote farm safety’.

How the agriculture sector is pulling together to promote farm safety

Since the Alberta Government announced its intention to pass an Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act (Bill 6) there’s been a lot of conversation on the subject, and a great deal of confusion about a complex issue. Read more