Now is the time to start thinking about small steps you can take to prevent major regrets.
Ben was 16 years old and proud to be given a job that was usually assigned to someone older and more experienced.
The job was to bring the tractor and small hay baler back home from a nearby field.
It seemed safe: He wouldn’t have to travel far on the two-lane, paved road and he was both comfortable and experienced operating the tractor.
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A motorist who witnessed the accident later described what had happened: The passenger-side wheels of the tractor and baler were partially on the gravel shoulder of the road. The tractor suddenly moved to the right towards the steeply banked ditch, where it began to overturn. Ben tried to get away from the tractor, but ended up jumping in the same direction that it was rolling.
The motorist went to help Ben and found him pinned beneath the tractor. Emergency services were called and another person also stopped. Rescuers made attempts to lift the tractor off the boy and dig him out from underneath but couldn’t free him.
Despite everyone’s efforts, Ben died at the scene.
Sadly, the story of Ben (not his real name) is true.
Rollovers continue to be the second most common cause of death on farms in Canada (second only to runovers), and are the leading cause of death in farmers 60 years of age and older.
Unexpected things can happen to all of us — even the most experienced farmer, as the previous statistic shows. These unexpected things happen too often because there is too much to get done, and not enough time or people to do it.
When we are this busy, we don’t recognize the risk involved in what we are going to do. We don’t think about what could go wrong and how bad it could be. Sometimes we overestimate our skills and abilities, and worse, those of our children and employees.
What you probably already know as well is that those who live to tell about it often talk about that one thing they could have done differently.
In my work, I always find it extremely sad when producers in these situations tell us they had thought about improving farm safety but didn’t know where to start. This is heartbreaking to hear from someone who has lost a family member, friend, or employee as the result of an incident that is both common on farms and preventable.
I know that Alberta farmers and ranchers want to become safer, but are struggling to make health and safety fit into their current operations, partially because they think it would require a lot of time and money.
In an effort to address this issue, AgSafe Alberta has developed the FARMERS CARE Level 1 program.
It is designed to help anyone who lives or works on a farm to identify that one thing before something bad happens.
It is a simple and practical approach to health and safety that has been created specifically for agricultural producers, and it focuses on risks they face. There is no cost to do this, the information is relevant to all farm types and sizes, and it can be completed in under two hours using a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
It doesn’t matter where your operation is currently at with regards to health and safety, what matters is that you start to do something about it, and FARMERS CARE Level 1 is a great place to begin. The less than two hours you spend could save you a lifetime of regret.
Visit take11.ca and get started today.
