It’s an industry that calls for long hours – increasing the risk of injury, even fatality. What makes this field unique is unlike many other work environments, those paying the ultimate price for giving a helping hand could be children or seniors.
On Tuesday, a national summit was held in Saskatoon at TCU Place with a focus on the agricultural injury and death in Canada.
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With more than 100 researchers, industry partners, police makers, knowledge transfer specialists and producers taking in the one-day summit, themed “Transforming Today’s Science into Tomorrow’s Prevention.”
The aim of the conference was to develop practical solutions to real-life issues for many families across the country and our province where home and work go hand-in-hand. Operations are more complex than ever before when it comes to farming and hazards are high.
“In Saskatchewan, probably the most important health and safety risk associated with farming is traumatic injury,” said Louise Hagel, research associate for the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan.
“Each year in Saskatchewan there are 12 to 15 fatal farm injuries that occur.”
On average there are 80 to 100 hospitalizations in the province every year because of a serious injury sustained while farming, among all-age groups.
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Overall, farm-related injuries across the country have slightly declined but in Saskatchewan those numbers have stabilized.
“Unfortunately, in spite of our best efforts – the injury rates have not gone down,” Hagel said.
Hagel was also quick to point out that while farm equipment is bigger, better and faster, it’s also more dangerous. It has also shifted the type of injuries and fatalities that are on the rise.
“The increase in the frequency of traffic-related deaths associated with farming and that is to say events that occur during the transport of farm equipment or farm produce have been increasing.”
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Another instance where injury patterns have changed, cases of drowning in grain have also increased, according to Hagel, who said it takes as little as two to three seconds for a person to be completely submerged.
Noise, musculoskeletal health, pesticide and fertilizer exposure, chemicals, confined spaces and machinery were also covered as part of the summit to identify areas of concern when it comes to farm safety and how to prevent incidents identified as a top priority.
“Informing workers and informing workplaces and making them aware of the risks and the hazards is a crucial step in preventing them,” said Niels Koehncke, director of the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture.
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All injuries and fatalities are preventable, yet it’s usually a series of mistakes that have been made said officials – which is why the solution isn’t that simple.
“It’s a difficult problem to tackle, I think injury and fatality prevention in general not just in agriculture but it’s important,” Koehncke said.
Hagel also noted that there are many farmers that have never experienced an injury on their farm, most farmers have safe operations and are very aware of the hazards of their work environment.
“Those of us who are interested in seeing those injury rates decline can be a resource for the farmers but it is something farmers themselves have to make a top priority on their farm operation.”
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