The University of Saskatchewan’s Centre for Agricultural Medicine recently released a report on farm injuries in the province, the first of its kind using Saskatchewan statistics.
It was based on 147 deaths from farm injuries and 2,293 farm injuries requiring hospitalization in Saskatchewan from April 1990 to December 1996. Examples:
- The groups at highest risk for serious farm injuries are the farm owner-operator, males of all ages, persons over the age of 60 and children of both sexes. As the kids would say, duh. This only stands to reason. Why the lack of females? Many don’t do field work; many farm wives work off the farm.
- Injuries caused by machinery accounted for 71percent of farm work-related fatalities and 48 percent of hospitalized farm injuries. The farm machine most often involved in these events was the tractor. Of course. Where does the farmer spend most of his time?
- Serious farm injuries occurred in all months. However, most injuries occurred during the growing season, from April to October, with an increased frequency observed in May and September.
Read Also
How counter-tariff policy cans Canadian choice
The unavailability of the storied Canadian pickle brand Bick’s, now processed and jarred in the U.S., shows how well-intentioned counter-tariff policy can turn sour on Canada’s consumers and cucumber growers.
Again, duh. May and September are the busiest months for seeding and harvesting. More people working more hours. The conclusion is inevitable.
- The most frequently observed injuries requiring hospitalization included fractures of the limbs, spine and trunk and open wounds of the limbs. Again, this makes sense considering the nature of the work.
- In total, 13,277 hospital days were used to treat these injuries, with one quarter of the injured requiring one week or more.
- Machinery runover and rollover were the leading causes of fatal injuries.
The findings of the report are interesting, but self-evident and only serve to confirm what any farmer could have told you. Because the results will be deemed to have scientific basis, they will be accepted as fact instead of speculation and researchers will be dining out on it for some time.
The question is, what practical results will come out of it?
Louise Hagel, a research associate at the centre and co-ordinator of the project, said in a news release: “It is of vital importance that we review this report in detail with the farming community and together produce an accident-prevention strategy based on thoughtful interpretation of this information.” She’s right.
But it doesn’t take a scientific study to know that when factors such as bad weather and machinery breakdowns and other stressors combine, the best accident-prevention strategy in the world will be out the window.
What we need most in farming is a way to control the uncontrollable.
