Any farm safety plan must always begin with a hazard assessment.
So says Alberta Agriculture & Forestry (AF).
Kenda Lubeck, a Farm Safety Coordinator with the AF office in Grande Prairie, says having a safety plan is always the number one thing to do when working on the farm.
Kenda Lubeck (Photo/CASA – YouTube)
“When you sit down and you say what is the first thing I need to do,” said Lubeck. “Once you’ve decided to create that plan, and dedicate that time to say do the first thing is to go ahead with hazard identification and assessment.”
Lubeck says it is preferable to write down your safety plan on paper, but it’s not required.
As well, she adds that you don’t have to do the complete hazard assessment all at once.
“You start off with identifying the bigger, the more obvious hazards, and go from there,” she said. “But the biggest thing too is recognizing the different types of hazards, as that’s what going to help a farmer get through more of them.
“There are four different types of hazards,” Lubeck continued. “There are physical hazards, like operating equipment and machinery, lifting heavy objects or working with animals. There are also chemical hazards, like handling cleaners, pesticides, solvents, those types of things. There are biological hazards, including contact with bacteria and viruses, as well as dangerous gases coming from manure and grain fermenting. And then there’s what we call psychosocial hazards, such as working long hours, the stress and fatigue from working on a farm, as well as from any language barriers among farm workers.”
Lubeck also adds that every farm is different when it comes to their hazard assessments.
“It’s really difficult for somebody to say that ‘Hey, I’ve done this hazard assessment, and I’ll show it to other farmer and say that’s what I found on our farm,’ and sometimes it works,” she explained. “But for the most part, every farm has to do their own assessment, and every farm has to look at their hazards from their perspective.
“It also depends on their team, like who they have working for them,” Lubeck continued. “It also depends on what commodities they have on the farm, as well as what type of equipment they have too.”
AF also has some safety tips in their guide book, entitled “FarmSafe Alberta: A Safety Planning Guide for Farms & Ranches.” More information can be found at http://www.agriculture.alberta.ca/farmsafety.
– Posted by BET
