GIBBONS, Alta. — Sweeping changes to work and safety rules for Alberta’s farms and ranches have generated concern among those in farming. Few farmers know how the mandatory Workers Compensation or Occupational Health and Safety rules will apply to their farms or how they will affect workers or neighbours who drop by to help brand […] Read more
Tag Archives farm safety — page 13
Manitoba safety changes a template for Alberta?
GIBBONS, Alta. — Farmers are still in business in Manitoba, six years after Workers Compensation became mandatory for the province’s farms, says the president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. Alberta farmers will also continue to operate with the new rules, Dan Mazier said a day after Alberta introduced farm worker legislation. “We want to have big […] Read more
Tragedy shows focus needed on safety
Death of sisters raises need for safety awareness regarding children around equipment on today’s large farm operations
Food is the natural gift in a tragedy, but the head of a farm safety association says communities that want to make farms safer should organize a farm safety day. Marcel Hacault, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, said farm safety awareness demonstrations do help kids and their parents stay safer on the […] Read more
Keeping kids safe on the farm
Accidents happen in all occupations but farming is particularly dangerous because it’s where families live, play and also work. The tasks change with the seasons, but the risks to children are constant and the youngest family members are often the most vulnerable. Farm parents are no different than other parents, except that they live, work […] Read more
Teaching safety to youth
Laura Nelson said many families have shared their stories with the centre during its 17 years of safety education programming for rural schoolchildren. Families often approach the centre, hoping to strengthen what it does by sharing their own stories, said Nelson. “Families come to us because they don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” […] Read more
Match work to ability
Young workers should:
Young workers should be physically and mentally capable of tasks assigned to them on the farm, says an agricultural health and safety specialist. Glen Blahey of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association said the Model Policy for Canadian Youth Employment in Agriculture is a voluntary set of guidelines to help keep young farm workers safe. Adapted […] Read moreTraining, adult supervision needed
Mike Prud’homme has heard all the excuses: “I’m not going very far.” “I know what I’m doing.” “Nothing is going to happen.” The Canada Safety Council’s national co-ordinator for off-road vehicles says operators must treat these machines like motorized vehicles with all the inherent dangers. “Stuff happens very fast,” he said, noting how distractions such […] Read more
Identifying hazards minimizes liability
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The increasing popularity and numbers of agritourism farms present special challenges for operators. Marsha Salzwedel, a research specialist with the National Farm Medicine Centre in Wisconsin, said that means paying greater attention to safety protocols to minimize accidents and limit liability. She told the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association annual conference […] Read more
Farmers slow to adopt workers compensation
RED DEER — Farmers need to be part of the discussion on farm safety rules or rules will be forced on them, says the vice-president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. In 2009, it became mandatory for Manitoba farmers to take out Workers Compensation Board coverage for their farm employees. However, only 1,500 of the province’s 10,000 […] Read more
Accident victim gives words of wisdom
OLDS, Alta. — Ray Murphy was the kind of farmer who was always busy and always wanted things done right. But on one fateful day in 2009, everything at his northeastern Alberta farm went wrong. It was the day before he was scheduled for open heart surgery in Edmonton, and he was loading cattle for […] Read more
