Every year different countries designate a day, a week or a month for farm safety. In Canada the third week of March is reserved each year as farm safety month.
Farm safety is not just a one week job. People are injured and die in farm-related accidents every month, week and day of the year. Nobody gets up at dawn and thinks, “Today I’ll get killed on my farm!”
Every occupation can have dangerous areas. You may even be killed in a car accident while going to work. The four most dangerous professions in Canada for decades have been farming, mining, forestry and policing! For most of these years, farming has topped the list.
As in all small businesses, farmers who are most efficient get to stay in business. In many occupations, workers are unionized and jobs that are declared dangerous are approached by a pair or a team of employees.
Most farmers will tell you that the most efficient way to do the majority of farm jobs is alone. Many serious farm-related injuries or deaths could have been avoided by taking an extra second to think before jumping into a situation. Another set of eyes, ears, or a second person’s thoughts might also have prevented someone getting hurt or killed.
In honour of those who died in farm-related accidents in your area, let’s take a few minutes of our idle time spent waiting for dinner, watching TV, etc., to remember those who died producing economical, safe food for all of us. You will be surprised at how many names that you can remember and even remember the circumstances that caused their death.
Again, in memory of those who lost their life farming, let’s make farm safety the topic of conversation. Make a list of simple improvements that can make your farm a safer place to visit or work. It may be as simple as putting safety shields back on, spreading sand on some icy spots, picking up and tidying up the work place or making everyone aware of the danger of manure gas and silo gas. Your family and employees can quickly add to this list.
A few minutes talking with your family and employees about some of the dangers on farms and how we can make them safer can make everyone feel like part of the team and if everyone works at farm safety injuries can be prevented, and lives saved.
Put a bandage around your finger as a reminder to make farm safety a topic of conversation at farm meetings, at the dinner table with family, when friends get together for a beer and even at the coffee shop.
Let’s take time to remember those who lost their life while working to produce food that is one of our greatest necessities of life.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon
on land that has been in
his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
