MAPLETON – Walter Grose says there are a number of items farmers and agricultural workers need to keep in mind during Canadian Agriculture Safety Week from March 10 to 16.
As secretary and longtime member of the Wellington County Farm and Home Safety Association, Grose noted farm accidents are on the decline across Canada.
However, he added that has more to do with a decrease in the overall number of farmers – and not necessarily fewer injuries taking place.
“The number of farmers that we have are going down and the number of accidents we have are going down, but maybe not in proportion,” said Grose.
He explained Wellington County typically sees four to five farm-related deaths per year. Yet it can be difficult to get a clear picture of the exact numbers, he added, because farm-related deaths often get confused with vehicle-related deaths.
“If you are driving the tractor from a farm to another farm and you are on the road, it is a close call whether it’s a farming accident or a vehicle accident,” Grose said.
Tractor runovers or rollovers are still the largest cause of farm-related injuries and deaths every year.
It is surprisingly simple to make mistakes while farmers are rushing to get tasks done, Grose said.
“If somebody were to … jump start [a tractor] then it could be in gear and roll over them or you get off the tractor and think it’s in neutral and then you go behind it to hook on machinery and then it rolls back onto you.”
The second most common safety concern is slips, trips and falls, which were the association’s focus last year.
“The slips, trips and falls is things with ladders, people not placing ladders correctly, or they have a ladder on the farm and then it slides out on the ice, they don’t have someone to hold the ladder,” said Grose.
These common safety concerns are why the Wellington County Farm and Home Safety Association has a vital role to play.
The association is a subsidiary of workplace safety and prevention services, part of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).
It consists of a board of 12 volunteers trying to ensure farmers in the area stay safe.
“If we can save just one life every year we are doing a good job,” said Grose.
More recent safety concerns include cellphone use while on the farm. Like distracted driving, farmers checking their phone while operating machinery, especially when driving a tractor on a road, is very dangerous.
This year the association has also turned its attention to ATV safety.
“We are teaching people that there are no ATVs allowed on the roads in Wellington County and that only if you are in the business of farming can you ever be on a road with an ATV. A lot of people don’t know that,” said Grose.
The association will be hosting a Minto ATV Safety Night at the Palmerston fire hall the evening of April 18.
