When was the last time you walked around your farm with safety in mind? It is easy to get caught up in the seasonal busyness of running a farm, and put safety on the back burner. However, farm inspections help farmers identify hidden hazards and provide vital, on-the-spot safety guidance.
In Canada, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) conducts random, enforced inspections to ensure strict compliance with safety guidelines. Farmers do not need to wait for an official visit to wonder if their operation is safe. Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS) offers comprehensive health and safety assessments to help agricultural operations prepare for these official inspections.
“There are tools, there are resources, there’s a health and safety association that is available to assist you. You don’t have to go and reinvent the wheel. Feel free to reach out, and we can point you in the right direction,” said Jay Remsik, a health and safety consultant with WSPS.
The organization offers free online educational content about farm safety and offers a free consultation for farmers who want to know how safe their farm is. They cover topics such as machine and equipment safety, hazard assessment, and workplace safety.
WSPS also offers farm safety seminars for agricultural workers for a fee. Rather than every farmer hosting their own seminar, some have opted to invite neighbouring farmers, which has become a more economical and efficient way to spread the word about safety.
“There was one that I just simply did in April down in Elgin County. Total numbers in the session, I think I posted 62, but it was with one owner. He hosted his business, and he probably has close to 22 [agricultural workers], but then he invited six or seven other farmers, and some of those farmers had one employee, and then they split the cost,” said Remsik, adding that when the farmer asked if this was okay, he thought it was perfect.
“Because this allows me to do one session, but I’m hitting seven different farms in one session, and 62 people, as opposed to going to one farm today, and another farm tomorrow, and then so on and so forth.”
When it comes to planning a farm safety session, timing is everything. While topics such as vehicle maintenance are always important safety topics, other issues like heat stroke in the summertime are specific to the season.
“I’ll say to the employer, if I’m there in February and I’m doing the session, it’s not really beneficial to talk about heat stress, because probably most of the guys it’s typically in one ear and out the other,” said Remsik, adding that with so many hazards in agricultural work, having safety consultations, even when no accidents have happened, is important.
“Let’s be proactive as opposed to reactive. I’ll be honest with you, there are those individuals out there that are very proactive, and then there are others, and we’ve dealt with it over the years, and I hate to say this, we only get the phone call after something’s happened,” said Remsik.
“We want to get the information out there to say, hey, don’t wait until something happens. Let’s be proactive.”
