1. Training Room 1

1.2. Page 3

Training Session

Training Room 1: First Steps to Safety—Understanding Hazards

 

Session 2: Agricultural Injuries—A Serious Concern


Courtesy of Gordon Coulthart and The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association

Farmers, farm families and farm workers are the most important resources in agriculture. Farm injuries cause pain and suffering and cost time and money. Farm safety is both an individual and an industry responsibility. What are the major causes of agricultural injuries?

Learning Target

In this session you will explore data about agricultural injuries and predict some hazards that are part of an agricultural environment. Questions you can ask yourself as you go through the information in this session are:

  • What are some of the major causes of agricultural injuries?
  • What potential agricultural hazards are most often associated with injuries?

 

 

 

 

Watch and Listen

Watch these two videos to hear case studies from farmers who have had personal experience with hazards and safety issues on their farms:

Time to Practise

What Are the Major Causes of Agricultural Injuries?

Farm-related incidents cause an average of 115 deaths and 1,500 hospitalized injuries in Canada each year, according to the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting program. Read the following statistics about Alberta.

  • Farm-related injuries in Alberta over an eight-year period:
    • Livestock involved in nearly 50% of injuries
    • 80% of injuries are suffered by males
    • Most common injury: upper extremities (fingers and thumbs)

  • Farm-related deaths in Alberta over a 20-year period:
    • 18 deaths per year (average)
    • 70% involve farm machinery
    • 87% are male

Organizing Knowledge

Statistics are collected each year by hospitals throughout the province. You can find the most current statistics by examining the Alberta Farm Safety Program website and clicking on the Statistics link. Click on the most recent 20xx Alberta Farm Related Fatalities link and use the statistics for the work below.

Note: The Farm Accident Monitoring System (FAMS) is no longer in use. For farm injury statistics, we are now being referred to Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR).

Your Task: Organize your thinking for your project

Your project for this training room will ask you to develop a Health and Safety Hazard Assessment Tool. Begin to consider what hazards should be managed on your worksite in order to keep farm workers safe.

  1. Analyze some of the data found in the charts and graphs in the most current Alberta Farm Related Fatalities statistics and Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR) agricultural fatalities reports. Keep the following questions in mind as you examine the data:

    • What were the major causes of the agricultural fatalities listed?
    • What were hazards that were most often associated with fatalities?
    • In your opinion, what is the most important way that these fatalities could be avoided?


  2. Determine some key categories that might help you organize the hazards that you would like to assess with your project (examples: farm equipment, animal care). Record them on your Project 1 Planning Template. Save your template for reference. Examples: farm equipment, animal care.

 

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