The death of three farm workers near Drayton in a manure tank accident about a decade ago focused attention on farm safety.
It’s the cause Walter Grose has been advocating for about 15 years, and that recently garnered him a volunteer award for the countless hours he puts into farm safety education, and other community organizations he volunteers his time to.
The award was handed out by Mapleton Township Mayor Bruce Whale.
“Walter Grose is the recipient for the Township of Mapleton. Walter has served as vice president of the Wellington County Farm and Home Safety Association (WCFHSA) and is currently the secretary,” the mayor said when he handed out the 2012 award earlier this year. “He also sits on the Work Place Safety Prevention (WSPS) Services advisory group.”
“Walter dresses as a clown (known as Safety Sam) to educate youth on the dangers related to tractor use,” the mayor added.
The co-owner of the Husky farm machinery business here, Grose hosts frequent local farm safety seminars in an effort to reach as many people as possible.
“Last year in Wellington County I talked to 762 people,” he said in a recent interview at the Canadian Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock.
With provincial safety regulations constantly changing and farms becoming bigger, Grose sees safety education becoming more important.
“The safety training takes on a bigger scope.”
The two safety organizations he is involved with have teamed up with the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA).
“There’s a lot of people with large farms that are categorized as industry,” he said of the changing face of farming “Our world is changing. We’re no longer dealing with farmers who are using a chainsaw. We’re teaching the hazards and safety of working with larger equipment.”
At the farm show he was approached by a representative of Steckle Heritage Farm near Kitchener to host a farm safety program, something he is prepared to do. Steckle Farm is a large agricultural operation, according to Grose, where employees worked specific tasks with specific machinery. It’s similar to large-scale farm operations where workers are licenced to work on machinery such as tractors, milking machinery and skid steers.
“They may have someone go on a tractor and it will flip in a heartbeat,” Grose said of the specialized training now being introduced into farm safety education.
Having worked on a farm since 1960, Grose has experienced his own accidents which he recognizes happened because of failing to take the proper precautions and adequate time to do a job.
The accidents involved working on a telephone pole which toppled over and cutting his leg with a chainsaw. He knows from first-hand experience that accidents happen in seconds and can drastically change, if not claim a life. His accidents have served as a wake-up call not only for him, but for his children and are a resource he uses when teaching education seminars.
Teaching farm children about farm safety is critical to getting the message across, he said.
What the children learn they often retain and will point out to their parents if they see them doing farm work in an unsafe manner.
He likens the learning process to wearing a seatbelt when driving a car. Children who have grown up with seatbelts are more inclined to tell a parent to buckle up when they are in a vehicle with them and they forget.
“If you get in a car with a child they’ll say ‘dad you didn’t put on your safety belt,’” Grose said of the comparison. “Our goal is to have farm safety as common as putting on a seatbelt.”
“I want to teach children proper safety on the farm so if dad walks under a loader they’ll say ‘dad don’t do that.’”
He pointed out that with Mennonite farm families generally large with many children, the message to children is essential. Grose said the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has recognized this and recently put up $100,000 for safety education aimed at Mennonite farm families.
He points to the need for more education with recent accidents where children have been killed after being run over by tractors on Mennonite farms.
“If we’re going to teach safety the up and coming group is Mennonites.”
He said the group hasn’t been singled out only because of accidents, but because Mennonite farms are labour intensive operations where accidents are more common.
“Farm accidents are more prominent because that’s the people that are doing the farming.”
Grose said farm safety applies to all farmers and their families.
At the Woodstock farm show organizers hosted a series of safety seminars in recognition of Ron Buck, a show volunteer, who died in a farm accident last year.
While at his booth, Grose was visited by Mapleton councillor Neil Driscoll who informed him that the Moorefield Optimist Club is focusing its attention on child safety programs.
“This year’s focus is on child safety,” Driscoll said.
Teaching children about safety is also a way to educate their parents who are accustomed to working a certain way when following everyday farm procedures.
It’s the small things that often result in accidents.
“If you jump from a tractor you might be jumping into hazards,” he said of the simple task in which a farmer might get a piece of clothing hooked up on the machinery and result in an accident.
“When I talk to children I tell them ‘don’t be hasty, use safety,’” he said of a phrase he has adopted in his seminars.
Grose said an inquest into the Drayton accident that claimed three lives also brought about new regulations and safety measures on equipment such as manure spreaders.
In that case the workers were overcome by hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S). A fourth worker who attempted to help his colleagues survived by not entering too deep into the tank and plugging his nose. He, according to Grose, was lucky.
“It’s a colourless, odourless gas and it kills in one breath,” he said of the gas generated from liquid manure and manure storage tanks kept in confined spaces.
Grose also told the story of another farmer who died when opening up a manure tank in his barn.
“We had a man, a really good farmer. He went into the barn and lifted the plug on a tank and the wind was blowing in a different direction and he was killed.”
In teaching children and adults about farm safety, Grose uses what he calls “shock and awe therapy.” It involves telling detailed stories about farm accidents, although he shies away from illustrating those stories with gory pictures.
That doesn’t mean farm accidents shouldn’t be reported, Grose said. He points to a recent decision by the Alberta government not to report farm accidents and fatalities. Media coverage, he contends, is part of the education process. He is also supportive of Ministry of Labour investigations launched in farm accident cases. The investigations do a proper accounting of all aspects of the accident for publication.
“If the police came they’d say it’s just a farm accident,” Grose said.
“We all make mistakes,” he said of accidents caused by repetitive work, time constraints and a lack of pre-planning how to do a chore.
Grose wants to change that through his talks and short skits with kids and parents.
“I enjoy it and if I can save one life it’s worth it.”
The Wellington Farm and Home Safety Association is hosting a Farm Safety Day at Deboer’s Farm Equipment Ltd. near Elora on Sept. 29, from 10am to 3pm. Children 13 and under are free. The association will also replace old ‘slow moving vehicle’ signs.
“If you bring us an old SMV sign we’ll give you a brand new one in trade,” Grose said.
