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Alberta farmers are feeling a variety of emotions — confusion, anger and acceptance — as they contemplate the province’s new farm safety omnibus bill.
“My initial thoughts are this shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise. When the NDP government got voted in, it was pretty clear something was going to happen,” said Kevin Serfas, who operates a southern Alberta grain and cattle operation.
“I think something had to be done to protect farm workers. I’m not necessarily freaking out about this. I am half way there already. We’ll see what kind of ideas these guys got in their heads and how far they want to go with this.”
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Serfas had previously offered medical and dental benefits to his employees, but a farm accident with his brother five years ago prompted him to provide workers compensation coverage.
“I have no issue with the workers comp. We already do it. I just hope when it comes to the OH & S stuff, there is some deeper consultation with the industry,” he said.
“It’s not as easy as taking rules out of the oil patch or construction industry and slapping them down to farm workers.”
Serfas’s staff can balloon from 10 full-time staff to 30 in the busy season. The heavy reliance on seasonal workers has encouraged the farm to establish a safety protocol to keep the staff safe.
However, he said the Occupational Health and Safety technical rules are still to be designed and won’t come into effect until 2017.
“How much more in depth do they want us to go with some of this stuff?”
New labour laws requiring farm workers to be paid overtime and have set work hours could pose challenges for farmers, who often are required to work long hours depending on the weather rather than the clock.
“That one could be the one that gets really expensive in my mind. Farming is a very seasonal thing.”
Brian Penner, a custom spray operator from Enchant, has no objection to mandatory Workers Compensation for each farm.
“WCB should have been in place years ago,” said Penner, whose father was paralyzed because of a farming accident 20 years ago.
He said the WCB is a tool to reduce a company’s risk.
However, Penner also voices concerns about the unknown Occupational Health and Safety rules.
“I don’t disagree with OH&S, (but) how they roll it out and enforce it will be the determining factor. It will probably just become a huge dinosaur that will probably get to a very small percentage of farms,” said Penner.
“It is not about keeping employees safe, it is about rules.”
Kevin Steeves of Hoadley believes on-farm employment standards are needed, but he is concerned with how quickly the legislation is being rushed into law.
Workers Compensation will be mandatory by the beginning of January, labour standard changes will take place in spring and new safety rules will be in place by 2017.
“Something needed to be done, but I don’t know if fast tracking it is the best way.”
Steeves has WCB coverage for his oilfield work, which costs $540 for $80,000 worth of coverage. Those costs are lower than farm rates of $1,500 for $50,000 worth of coverage.
“I don’t want to put a price on it, but at the end of the day, it does come down to cost.”
Steeves said he believes farmers should have a choice in the type of coverage, including plans other than those offered by WCB.
Brian Gehlert, a mixed grain and livestock producer from Stony Plain, said the new rules would likely mean he would hire contractors rather than employees to get around the rules and reduce his risk.
“I don’t think anyone has any opposition to covering people, to protecting employees. That is fantastic,” he said.
However, he expressed fears that increased Occupational Health and Safety rules won’t make farms safer and will become a headache.
Rich Smith, executive director of Alberta Beef Producers, said the organization agreed that changes were needed to allow Occupational Health and Safety staff to investigate serious injuries and fatalities on farms.
As well, it supports requirements mandating that employers have insurance coverage for employees, but it doesn’t agree with mandatory Workers Compensation Board insurance.
“We knew changes were coming, we just hope there will be time to make sure they do reflect the unique qualities of our industry,” said Smith.
“Ultimately it is not legislation that makes workplaces safer. It is education, awareness and training. We think the thing that is really going to make farmers safer is education and training.”
- Grande Prairie, Nov. 26, Pomeroy Hotel
- Red Deer, Dec. 1, Red Deer College
- Okotoks, Dec. 2, Best Western Plus
- Lethbridge, Dec. 3, Lethbridge Lodge
- Leduc, Dec. 7, Best Western Plus Denham Inn
- Occupational Health & Safety Act
- Workers Compensation Act
- Employment Standards Code
- Labour Relations Code
- Alberta is one of four Canadian provinces without mandatory farmer WCB coverage, along with Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. It became mandatory in Manitoba in 2009.
- Eight Canadian provinces provide collective bargaining rights to agricultural workers. Ontario permits agricultural workers to unionize but not to bargain collectively.
- Alberta is the only province that does not provide any form of labour relations coverage for farm and ranch employees.
- The legislation would give OHS officers the authority to inspect all work areas on farms and ranches. Until detailed technical rules are developed, producers would need to follow generally acceptable industry standards and apply general health and safety principles. Consultation of the new rules will take place with industry and be implemented by 2017.
- OHS law does not apply to people in their own home or engaged in non-work activities. If a farmer hires a contractor to perform work on his property, the law would apply only to the contractor.
- Government will consult with farmers, ranchers and workers to help implement employment standards such as overtime and vacation pay. This will be finalized in spring.
- Rules for hours of work for agriculture will be reviewed after consultation with farmers, ranchers and workers.
- All changes apply to Hutterite colonies, including WCB and OHS standards, the same as other farms and ranches.
