Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, March 14 – 20, 2010

It has often been said that, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Nowhere is this truer than in agriculture, where machinery or unpredictable livestock can take or devastate a life in an instant.

“Plan • Farm • Safety” is the theme of this three-year Canadian Agricultural Safety campaign. Each aspect of the theme will be promoted over the next three years. This year the campaign will promote "Plan" with safety walkabouts and planning for safety. In the second year, the focus will be on "Farm" including implementation, documentation and training. In the third year, emphasis will be on "Safety" including assessment, improvement and further development of safety systems.

The “Plan” yearlong campaign will be launched with Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW), from March 14 to 20. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) deliver CASW in partnership with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

“Effective safety management doesn’t have to be time consuming – in fact it usually only takes a few moments of thought,” says Laurent Pellerin, CFA President. “A few moments of thought can prevent a life-time of regret.”

Among the most self-preserving and profitable actions any primary producer can take are those that predict problems, and then take the necessary actions to prevent or minimize the effects of the problem. This thinking process requires both an understanding of the work and the will to make safety a priority. To help do this, think S.A.F.E.

SPOT THE HAZARDS
Employers need a simple procedure for routinely identifying hazards in the workplace. This can most effectively be achieved by involving workers since they are generally more aware of the problems that exist. Also, if you involve workers in developing safety solutions, they will be more committed to making the solution work. This can be achieved by management and workers regularly inspecting the workplace and machinery and together identifying hazards.

ASSESS THE RISK
‘Risk’ is a measure of the probability that an incident will occur and the probable severity of the injuries. The measure of the risk can be rated as high, medium or low. Once the risks have been assessed, employers can use the risk rating to prioritise the hazards that need immediate action from those that can be monitored and fixed later. Regular assessment also helps employers to budget time and resources towards repairs and maintenance.

FIND A SAFER WAY
Once the risk has been prioritized employers, together with their workers, must develop controls or ways to minimize the risk. Controlling a hazard at its source should be the first choice because this method will eliminate it from the workplace altogether or isolate it from the worker. This may require substitution of a material with non-hazardous ones, isolation of hazards, addition of safety features to existing equipment, redesign of the work processes, or purchase of new equipment. When the hazard cannot be removed or controlled adequately, personal protective equipment is the last line of defence if the work process is to continue. In reality, many controls are a combination of two or more control types.

EVERY DAY
After the appropriate control measures have been taken, monitor the situation and inspect it regularly to make sure that the actions taken are working and not creating any additional risks.

The CFA, CASA, FCC and AAFC want to remind Canadian farmers to “Plan • Farm • Safety” and think ‘SAFE’ to help solve problems and stay safe on your farm.

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For more information call:
Theresa Whalen, CFA Farm Safety Consultant
Tel: (613) 822-0016 E-mail: farmsafety@cfafca.ca
To download a copy of this article, visit web sites www.casa-acsa.ca or www.cfa-fca.ca
*** Free photos and cartoons are available to accompany this article at www.casa-acsa.ca .