Is this for real?

[Tfng]

It saddens me to say a friend of mine fell off a bin tonight while drying grain. It sounds like he is likely to live but is going to Edmonton for surgeries. Broken collar bone, broken shoulder blade, 11 broken ribs, punctured lung, broken pelvis, hematoma of the brain.

That's makes two people I know who have fallen from bins and were seriously injured.

I know one person who was caught in an auger as a child and lost part of a foot.

I know one person who had a hand go through a belt, didn't loose fingers but many stitches to put back together.

I don't know all that many farmers.

[skidderman]

Originally Posted by Spooner

The volume and types of fatal incidents on farms is unacceptable. Especially minors.

Get with the times.

Thinking that the government, especially the one we have is going to prevent accidents is dreamland fantasy. I grew up on a farm and I was a farmer so I think I know a bit about it. The only thing this will do is create more government workers which the NDP love to do. Pretty soon we will need to have permission to go to the washroom.

[Bushmaster]

Tfng, very sorry to hear about your friend. These things can happen very fast.....

[Tfng]

Thanks Bushmaster. It happens in the blink of an eye.

[mac1983]

I know someone who was moving a metal grain bin and sent his kid on top of the bin to lift the power lines so the bin could go under the powerline. Needless to say the power arced and killed him dead. You can't fix stupid. Sorry All.

[play.soccer]

Reading this thread gives off a vibe that tells me a lot of people on this forum don't like farmers and would love to see them fail or go away....

If what a farmer does safety wise doesn't affect you then don't worry about it. Or are you just waiting for them to lose the farm so they can quit denying you hunting access?

[TylerThomson]

Or maybe farmers just need to be educated a bit on simple industry standard safety practices. I'm not saying they need to go full retard like the patch but a little education goes a long way. Pinch points and crush points, proper load securement, don't disable guards on moving equipment, proper rigging and hoisting, when to tie off and how to use a harness and basic first aid.

To be clear I am not advocating to swing the pendulum as far as Oilfield has but farming is a dangerous job and a bit of education could go a long way in preventing things like getting sucked into an auger or falling off a bin especially when all that's needed you stop it is the knowledge of what to do and a few bucks spent on basic safety gear.

[Newview01]

Originally Posted by mac1983

I know someone who was moving a metal grain bin and sent his kid on top of the bin to lift the power lines so the bin could go under the powerline. Needless to say the power arced and killed him dead. You can't fix stupid. Sorry All.

Would a law have prevented this?

[TylerThomson]

Originally Posted by Newview01

Would a law have prevented this?

Education would have. And if people won't do it themselves then unfortunately laws are passed to force them to. So in a roundabout way yes they would have prevented this.

Education on fall protection would have also stopped the other guy from falling off the bin.

I didn't think it could happen to me or I've done it a thousand times are poor excuses after an injury.

[Tfng]

To be clear I'm not against farmers. I've farmed myself. I do know that some bins can be very dangerous. Struggling to open a rusty bin lid with your toes hooked in a tiny ladder on the roof is no fun. Loose rungs that the wind has loosened the bolts on waiting to surprise you etc. Add in gusting winds, darkness and maybe a bit of rain and it gets downright stupid. With all the mechanical maintenance required to keep a farm running bins often don't get the attention they need.

I don't know yet which bin he fell off. I do know they've got a new bin yard they've been working on the last couple years and are rightfully proud of. Lots of nice big new hopper bottoms and out of all those new bins not one ladder has a cage. I've bought bins myself without cages. Why would cages on new bins be optional? Money...

[TylerThomson]

If not a cage then a harness. I've built ladders for bins and repaired them. There are plenty of places to tie off.

Farming is the only industry in Canada using state of the art equipment and stone age safety.

[fitzy]

Originally Posted by mac1983

That is a truly sad amount of fatalities. i would like to see the comparible numbers on o,h&s regulated workplaces before and after the safety industry took over. There is no doubt that these large farm corporations should have to play by the same rules the rest have to, but should a one or two person family farm have to write up a core value assessment and a book of hazard assessments on every little step involved, or pay someone thousands of dollars for an off the self one. I witnessed what the safety industry did to the oilpatch through the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's, and 10's and all it did was chase out the knowledge and experiance to get the job done on time and safely, and raise up a bunch of entitled workers. I left the patch and went back farming to get away from it and now the safety industry is trying to do it all over again on our small family farm. kind of ironic lol.

If you witnessed what the safety industry did to the patch through those years you'll have also witnessed the drop in accidents and deaths. I've been in the patch since 94. Things have changed a lot since then. It's extreme in a lot of cases but I shudder to think of some of the things I was asked to do on a daily basis.

I've spent my whole life on or around farms. I can say with certainty that a little safety and education would go a long way in the industry.

There are farmers out there who do things with intelligence and with safety in mind it might take a little longer or cost a little more, But if luck is a huge part of you getting home to your kids at night is that really how you want to play it?

[eric2381]

IMO, the best way to farm safety is taking the time and teaching your kids about safety. And dangers. And making good decisions. This extends through all aspects of life. We don’t need laws to enact that. Just people that care.

[mac1983]

Originally Posted by eric2381

IMO, the best way to farm safety is taking the time and teaching your kids about safety. And dangers. And making good decisions. This extends through all aspects of life. We don’t need laws to enact that. Just people that care.

Well said eric, from what i see safety is a state of mind a way to live your life.
The people who do stupid things and hurt, maim or kill themselves on the farm would do it no matter where they work or live. To penalize a farmer for not changing a light bulb properly and not his neighbor who lives on an acreage seems odd.

[mac1983]

Originally Posted by Newview01

Would a law have prevented this?

Nope, these people also owned an oilfield construction company so they were fully aware of all the hazards.

[mac1983]

Originally Posted by fitzy

If you witnessed what the safety industry did to the patch through those years you'll have also witnessed the drop in accidents and deaths. I've been in the patch since 94. Things have changed a lot since then. It's extreme in a lot of cases but I shudder to think of some of the things I was asked to do on a daily basis.

I've spent my whole life on or around farms. I can say with certainty that a little safety and education would go a long way in the industry.

There are farmers out there who do things with intelligence and with safety in mind it might take a little longer or cost a little more, But if luck is a huge part of you getting home to your kids at night is that really how you want to play it?

Things were pretty mellow in the 90's you should have been there 20 years earlier. Twice the productivity and no differance in the amount of incidents. That being said i never felt scared or did anything i felt was unsafe, never even witnessed a lost time accident . Now because safety industry says so you have to wear armoured gloves to protect from blisters and wear fall restraint if above 6 ft, lol.
I take safety very seriously because i realize if i work dangerously and hurt myself my crop dosen't get harvested and my haying dosen't get done, which is better incentive for me.

[ditch donkey]

I’m going to make a few points on this.

WCB for farm workers should be mandatory. I know of one man that was badly burned while working for a farmer, and he has been left high and dry. I know that’s only one guy, but I personally don’t know anyone that has been in any other serious workplace accident.

I’ve heard farmers say there are better options than WCB, and there probably is, but that will never fly. Every other business, including myself are forced to use WCB, so there will not be any support. Plus the province will never give up that income to their WCB program.

As far a OH & S regulations go, that’s a tough one. Because, there are years of precedence and evolution of regulations to catch up on. Perhaps not all OH&S regulations should apply, but where do you start, and end? Ladder cages on grain bins, to keep people from falling. Ok. What about fuel tanks? It’s difficult to say where to draw the line for risk.

A lot of people think it’s not their problem, and won’t effect them because they don’t farm. Maybe it will push small farms out of business. Big deal, someone will farm that land. Leading to bigger and bigger corporate farms. Every farm is a business, but once they get so big they are a corporation. I’m not talking in the legal sense, corporations are businesses. I’m talking the difference between talking to a business owner, vs calling or emailing someone from a large faceless corporation.

Oil companies, real estate investment companies, etc. own huge pieces of vacant, raw land. Try get permission to hunt land owned by Shell. The answer will likely be no, if you get an answer at all. Either no one will want to take the time to answer you, or just don’t want the responsibility of giving you access.

I’m not saying we should allow people to be hurt, so we can shoot a deer, but this is a huge issue with huge implications. I don’t have the answers, just somethings to think about.

Everything effects everyone.

[raab]

Originally Posted by ditch donkey

I’m going to make a few points on this.

WCB for farm workers should be mandatory. I know of one man that was badly burned while working for a farmer, and he has been left high and dry. I know that’s only one guy, but I personally don’t know anyone that has been in any other serious workplace accident.

I’ve heard farmers say there are better options than WCB, and there probably is, but that will never fly. Every other business, including myself are forced to use WCB, so there will not be any support. Plus the province will never give up that income to their WCB program.

As far a OH & S regulations go, that’s a tough one. Because, there are years of precedence and evolution of regulations to catch up on. Perhaps not all OH&S regulations should apply, but where do you start, and end? Ladder cages on grain bins, to keep people from falling. Ok. What about fuel tanks? It’s difficult to say where to draw the line for risk.

A lot of people think it’s not their problem, and won’t effect them because they don’t farm. Maybe it will push small farms out of business. Big deal, someone will farm that land. Leading to bigger and bigger corporate farms. Every farm is a business, but once they get so big they are a corporation. I’m not talking in the legal sense, corporations are businesses. I’m talking the difference between talking to a business owner, vs calling or emailing someone from a large faceless corporation.

Oil companies, real estate investment companies, etc. own huge pieces of vacant, raw land. Try get permission to hunt land owned by Shell. The answer will likely be no, if you get an answer at all. Either no one will want to take the time to answer you, or just don’t want the responsibility of giving you access.

I’m not saying we should allow people to be hurt, so we can shoot a deer, but this is a huge issue with huge implications. I don’t have the answers, just somethings to think about.

Everything effects everyone.

Maybe we should try and put it in the UCP policies that the government will work on reducing the WCB and open up the option of private insurance for all businesses.

[mac1983]

Originally Posted by raab

Maybe we should try and put it in the UCP policies that the government will work on reducing the WCB and open up the option of private insurance for all businesses.

Here here, give people the option.

[silverdoctor]

Always the NDP... Guess people forget that farm safety was one of Alison Redfords promises - that never got fulfilled.

[raab]

Originally Posted by silverdoctor

Always the NDP... Guess people forget that farm safety was one of Alison Redfords promises - that never got fulfilled.

No surprise the socialist Redford wanted to force everyone into WCB and give no farmer a choice in who provided their insurance coverage. Calling Redford a Conservative would be like me calling Notley a Wildroser.