Farming is among the most dangerous occupations, and farm accidents are often caused by poor choices.
Data from the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting program shows that agriculturally related injuries and fatalities are not due to random accidents and there are clear, recurrent patterns of injury.
“Typically there are 15 to 25 contributing factors involved in the occurrence of a serious incident,” said Glen Blahey, provincial farm safety co-ordinator with Manitoba Labour and Immigration.
“This emphasizes the need for us to move away from the checklist-type safety audits and move toward well rounded safety plans that anticipate problems and how to respond to them.”
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Blahey cited environmental factors ranging from lighting, terrain, temperature, wind, training and equipment maintenance to operator health, including medications, fatigue or stress, as well as communication. Deficiencies in any of these areas are not dangerous by themselves, but when combined, they can create a deadly combination.
Marcel Hacault, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, said the best way to reduce farm-related accidents is to make good choices and be aware of the risks.
“If something is predictable, then it is also preventable – which means it is not an accident of fate, but rather an incident of cause and effect,” he said.
The farm safety message is making inroads with producers. From 1990 to 2005, CAIR found an overall reduction in the five-year average of farm-related fatalities for children aged one to 14 and adults aged 15 to 59. There was no significant change in the fatal injuries of adults 60 and older. Regardless of age, nine out of 10 fatalities were male.
Almost two-thirds of agricultural fatalities were due to five machine-related causes: rollovers, runovers, entanglements, traffic collisions and being pinned or struck by a machine.
John Gordon, director for the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, said it’s important to make sure someone knows where you are working and what time you are expected back.
“Most farmers have times when they work in isolation, so if they are involved in an incident, it could be a very long time before they get help,” he said.
The average annual number of fatalities has declined over the 16-year surveillance period, but part of the decline is attributed to a reduction in the Canadian farm population.
In younger children, runovers and drownings were most common, while older children and teenagers were more frequently killed in machine rollovers and runovers.
“Every child is different, however we have to remember that children cannot be expected to have the experience, awareness and ability of an adult,” said Hacault.
The average annual number of fatal injuries among those aged 60 and over remained relatively constant. Contributing factors are that older farmers tend to use older machinery, which is less likely fitted with rollover protective structures and a seatbelt. Also, falls are a problem for older farmers as their physiological and cognitive abilities change and that affects how they perform tasks.
“It is well recognized that aging may have a negative impact on one’s ability to function as safely in the workplace as the person did in their younger years,” explained Ted Redekop, chief occupational medical officer with the workplace safety and health division of Manitoba Labour and Immigration.
“Therefore to ensure that they can continue to perform as productively as possible, it is important that careful planning is done to have the work process modified to take into consideration the limitations that the aging process or other conditions bring.”
Three out of four senior fatalities are machine-related, with the leading causes being machine rollovers (24 percent) and runovers (23 percent), followed by animals (eight percent), being pinned or struck by a machine (seven percent) and machine entanglement (six percent).
Fatality rates were lowest for adults aged 15 to 59. The top five causes of fatalities for this age group were machine rollovers (21 percent), machine entanglements (11 percent), traffic collisions (10 percent), machine runovers (10 percent) and being pinned or struck by a machine (eight percent).
The Census of Agriculture reports the most frequent causes of injury are the unsafe use of equipment or material-handling practices, followed by fatigue, trying to save time and miscommunication between workers.
“For many producers, farming is both a way of life and a business,” said Gordon. “Maintaining a safe operation makes so much sense in terms of saving the anguish associated with traumatic injuries and also from the perspective of reducing expenses and losses. These costs include not only direct medical bills, but also lost production.
“Costs related to agricultural injuries and fatalities in Canada add up to a staggering number each year (CAIR estimates: $200-$300 million annually), a substantial amount of which comes out of the producers’ pocket. Safety makes sense.”
