Need a good sleep?
The Agricultural Health and Safety Network has just released a DVD that might help. And it could help keep you safer, too.
Unveiled at the recent Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention, the DVD will be officially launched April 1 in Saskatoon.
Sleepless in Saskatchewan is based on 21 workshops conducted by sleep researcher Jon Shearer.
They began in 2005 to help farmers get a good night’s sleep, said Kendra Ulmer, a registered nurse with the network.
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The theory is that well-rested, alert farmers work safer, and the result could be fewer injuries and deaths.
The DVD will be available for purchase, and Ulmer suggested rural municipalities could buy a copy to lend to ratepayers.
John Gordon, director of the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, said agriculture is the most dangerous of the industrial occupations in Canada.
Most deaths are related to equipment or machinery, falls and poisoning, while falls and machinery cause the most injuries.
He told the SARM convention that farm injuries cost the economy $465 million per year.
The numbers of fatalities and injuries are still high despite years of safety awareness, he added.
“Education alone isn’t cutting the mustard.”
People know what they should do, he said, but don’t always do it.
The centre is implementing a program in Saskatchewan that Gordon hopes will eventually spread nation-wide. Safe Farm Canada is an incentive-based program designed to certify farmers after an audit of their farming practices. It is expected to be in place by next January.
Gordon said the centre expects to sign an agreement with a private company to fund the incentives.
The program will begin with an on-farm audit and include health and wellness clinics to make sure the farm family is healthy.
“We can give them advice on the best way to manage some of the hazards on their farms,” Gordon said.
There will also be annual workshops.
“The idea here is, under an incentive-based system, there would be another audit and if they receive a passing grade they would get the incentive,” he said.
Farmers who pass the program get an incentive worth $1,000, but not necessarily cash. It could also be credits for inputs or reductions in insurance rates.
A farm would be fully certified within five years and the incentive would then stop. However, Gordon said the program would still follow up with farmers. He said it’s hoped the safety practices would be ingrained after five years.
“Safety is a behaviour, not an individual action,” he said. “We’re looking for people to adopt the culture.”
