The province says the action was taken following inspections, audits and targeted investigations of driver training schools and carriers.

“It was a targeted crackdown. We saw an alarming increase in the amount of bridge strikes and calls and letters coming into the department of unsafe trucking incidents. This was a bigger, broader audit of the driver training schools that we took the initiative to try to crack down on this disturbing trend,” said Devin Dreeshen, minister of transportation and economic corridors.

“Our families’ safety won’t be put at risk by reckless operators who ignore the rules. Anyone cutting corners or operating unsafe trucks will be removed from our roads. Alberta truckers have earned a reputation as some of the most trusted drivers in the country, and we will not allow a few bad actors to undermine that trust.”

Thirteen commercial trucking companies have also been removed from Alberta’s roads due to poor on-road performance, unsafe equipment or failure to meet mandatory safety standards. Of those, seven were identified as “chameleon” carriers – companies that try to avoid regulatory oversight by changing names, creating new entities or relocating operations across jurisdictions.

The provincial government said it is working with federal and provincial/territorial partners to strengthen enforcement across jurisdictions. Work is also underway by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators to develop a national database to address the loophole that carriers currently use to exploit gaps in inter-provincial data sharing and enforcement.

“We’ve developed a made-in-Alberta change for a Class One learning pathway,” Dreeshen said.

“Eventually we want trucking to be a Red Seal. You look at a Red Seal certification for a chef, we think obviously there should be that point of pride in the trucking industry, but it takes five other provinces to recognize it as a trade. That’s something we’re still working with other provinces to be able to officially have trucking as an apprenticeship.”

This would include requiring 125 to 133 in-truck training hours, well above the national mandatory entry-level training minimum.

“Elevating driver training standards to align with the established benchmarks of a designated trade with the ultimate goal of achieving Red Seal designation for the transportation industry represents a significant and positive step forward,” Don MacDonald, interim chair of the Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada, said in a press release.

“This initiative is supported by the (PTTAC) and will not only contribute to safer roadways but also foster greater professionalism and integrity across all sectors of the industry.”

Alberta is also targeting the misclassified driver scheme known as Drivers Inc., in which companies hire drivers as independent contractors to avoid payroll taxes and benefits.

These drivers often lack proper training and oversight and are vulnerable to exploitation. In July 2025, a week-long commercial driver status and classification check stop revealed that 20 per cent of the 195 drivers who were stopped were suspected of being misclassified, including several temporary foreign workers.

To further strengthen the trucking industry, the Alberta government is looking to changes in its Traffic Safety Act. One regulatory change would be requiring the driver’s driving record to follow the individual instead of the carrier with which the driver is associated .

“If it’s an issue with the vehicle, it’s obviously not the driver’s fault. Those types of incidences should follow the carrier. But, if it is driver error, we’re seeing drivers jump into other carriers without the new carrier knowing the past driving record of that driver. We’re making sure there’s more accountability in the trucking industry.”

Dreeshen said these measures will benefit the agriculture sector.

“Maybe I’m a little biased because I am a (fifth-generation) farmer. Truckers used to have the reputation of being the best out on the road. You’d have people that would be following semis because they know … the trail that the semi is blazing in the middle of winter is good. Hats off to the amazing truckers that we have doing the work that they do every day to put put food on store shelves and to make sure that we have such a high quality life that we have.”

The post Alberta cracks down on trucking industry appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

She lives on a farm near the Peace country town of Fairview and has made it a personal goal to get automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in every school in the province – particularly those in rural areas.

She wants to saturate Alberta and eventually the country with information on how to use them properly.

*“(Students) should be getting training and doing drills from the very earliest stages of elementary school all the way through school,” said Ruether, who runs the Project Brock Society, named in tribute to her 16-year-old son who, in 2012, died from heart disease in the middle of a school volleyball practice even though an AED was available but was not used.

She believes the odds of any kind of heart failure, including those among kids and teens, are too high to ignore the basic life support skills necessary to keep a victim alive until EMS arrives. The risks can be particularly high on farms and in rural communities.

“There’s been so many tragic accidents on farms,” said Ruether. “What if Grandpa became unconscious while he was, say, unloading the back of the grain truck?”

Brock was felled by a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), which is not the same as a heart attack, although the terms tend to be used interchangeably.

According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating. Because it’s essentially an electrical problem based in the heart, it can affect anyone — even healthy, athletic kids and teenagers like Brock.

Although Canadian data is limited, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia says SCA claims the lives of more than 2,000 children and adolescents in the U.S. annually and accounts for approximately three to five per cent of all deaths in children ages 5 to 19 years.

“(SCA death in children) happens sporadically across the country: a death here, a death there that nobody really hears about,” said Ruether. She serves as a patient/family advocate on the Alberta Health Services EMS Science and Research Team, which is collecting cardiac arrest data in the province.

There’s a story behind every case. In Ruether’s case, Brock’s death is tinged with bittersweet memories.

“It was the Tuesday after the May long weekend and all of the kids were home,” she said.

“My two boys were there and the girls were home from college. We had a fantastic weekend. We went biking, dirt biking, and planted the garden.” 

Ruether treasures that particular Monday because the next day couldn’t have been more different.

After school that day Brock asked his mom — worn out from work and weekend activity — if he could play the World of Warcraft online game with his friends. She responded by pointing out his lack of dedication to his math grades and forbidding his gaming plans.

Then Brock offered another idea.

“He was upset because I was mad at him and he said ‘well mom, would you like to come along (to volleyball practice)?’ I said no and said ‘if you don’t get your math marks up this will be the last practice you go to.’” 

Those were among the last words she ever spoke to him and she’s regretted it ever since.

“I don’t know why I was such a (expletive) that day. I was just so grumpy and tired and miserable.”

Brock left for volleyball at about 6:50 p.m. At 7:25, Ruether received a distressing phone call. Brock had collapsed face-down and appeared to be breathing abnormally.

“His friends just thought he was joking around. One of his friends turned him over and tickled him and was just kind of joking around when they noticed that he was turning blue. And so they called 911.”

Although the AED was brought out, it wasn’t used because trained individuals, including EMS when they arrived, administered CPR to Brock.

Ruether believes Brock’s death could have been prevented if someone had used the AED as soon as he collapsed.

Those present likely didn’t know that Brock’s apparent abnormal breaths were actually agonal respirations. According to Web MD, agonal respirations happen when the brain is not getting the oxygen it needs to survive. It’s usually associated with cardiac arrest or stroke and demands the immediate use of a defibrillator.

“There’s an extremely high chance of survival if you’re shocked right away,” said Ruether.

“None of them were really informed about how critically important it is to apply an AED. And so it just sat there on the floor beside him while he died.” 

Ruether holds no ill will toward those who did their best to prevent Brock’s death — especially since discovering the rarity of comprehensive AED training even among those with basic life support experience.

She admitted she probably wouldn’t have recognized Brock’s symptoms as agonal respirations herself, despite being highly trained in CPR and employed in a medical career, in her case diagnostic medical imaging.

“I didn’t know about agonal respirations. The 911 dispatcher didn’t know, so there were a lot of people who were just not informed about what they were supposed to do.”

Ruether didn’t know it at the time, but there was earlier evidence that Brock had heart problems that may have been ignored due to his age.

Brock had attended a drug and alcohol awareness program where he was twice hooked up to an ECG. Both instances resulted in an abnormal reading.

“They said there’s something wrong with the machine, ripped off the tracing and gave it to him. But I didn’t know that until a year after he was dead. Brock just went home and put that abnormal ECG in his little box of treasures and never said anything about it. So he had an arrhythmia that we knew nothing about.”

The experience taught Ruether that defibrillators and knowledge of how to use them were not as common as she thought. Using donations and a small group of volunteers, she set out to remedy that situation in Alberta’s six school areas.

“We put AEDs in all schools in the north area as well as at least one in every other area across the province,” she said.

“We have an Excel spreadsheet that we are working on to find all the schools in the province that have or do not have AEDs so that we can target AED placement in the remaining schools that don’t have any.”

As successful as Project Brock has been, Ruether said she needs help from the provincial government to ensure that AEDs are put in every school in Alberta. And she doesn’t intend to stop there.

“We need to have a commitment from the legislators that AEDs are mandatory in every school,” she said.

“Throughout the years we’ve trained thousands of students and teachers and citizens and health care providers, but it’s got to the point now where this is bigger than just a little project.

“I’m trying to find an administrator right now to take over the reins of the administrative duties and then help build it into a provincial and then national organization so that we can get this training throughout Canada.”

In the meantime, anyone interested in volunteering or donating to the Project Brock Society or learning what Ruether and company can do for a local school, school district, community centre or other facility, is encouraged to contact her at kimruether@hotmail.com or 780-835-1751.

*Update: the year of Brock’s death was updated. The Alberta Farmer apologizes for the error.

The post Peace country resident turns tragedy into triumph with AEDs in schools appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received 380 reports alleging intermittent or complete loss of power steering assistance in 2013-2016 model year Ram 1500 pickup trucks, including reports of three crashes.

In March 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automotive, now known as Stellantis, recalled 440 vehicles to address a possible contamination of the electrical power steering unit. NHTSA said complaints indicated similar failures may be occurring in vehicles outside the recall scope.

NHTSA is opening a recall query “to determine if the scope of the recall mentioned above is correct or if another defect might exist.”

Stellantis said Tuesday the company is “fully cooperating with NHTSA on this investigation.”

Many complaints filed with NHTSA described expensive or serious safety issues or very long waits for repair parts. In January, one Florida driver said the steering wheel of a 2013 Ram 1500 locked and “would not turn left or right” and was quoted a price of more than $2,000 for parts.

Another driver was driving a 2014 Ram 1500 at 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) on a busy road in California in February when their steering wheel “seized and became immobile. Using tremendous force I was able to get the truck through traffic and to the side of the road.”

A complaint filed in March by a 2015 Ram 1500 driver said due to a power steering assist failure, “the contact drove into a ditch which caused minor damages to the front end of the vehicle.”

— David Shepardson is a Reuters correspondent covering U.S. auto sector and regulatory issues from Washington, D.C.

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Later that week I coaxed an elderly man holding his electric saw down off a 25-foot extension ladder. At a lavender farm, I encouraged the owner to stop giving city children rides in the tractor loader.

These were mistakes and pranks that could have cost lives.

The farm is already a busy place. As activity escalates, especially at harvest time, we often do things in the interest of time. That rush to the field, pen or processing floor could be deadly for ourselves or someone we love.

I was raised in a go-go-go environment. There were a lot of accidents. We worked hard, and equipment and bodies broke down from fatigue. During those busy times I often marvelled at the family playing softball on a Sunday during harvest who by the end of the season had still finished more acres in less time.

There is a lesson in that observation. Time is important. While many farm families such as ours were saving time in the doing — the other farm family was banking it.

Time together

Likely at no other period in recent history has the need to be together been so strong. Families are grieving and wanting to see mom and dad, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, grandchildren and friends. Many may be thinking: I wish we had spent more time together or I wish I could hug mom just one more time. I know I do.

As harvest looms, the shortage of help, the slowing of the supply chain creating deficiencies in almost everything from parts to pop, and the infliction of dramatic weather all contribute to a sense of urgency. A need to ‘get things done’ in haste blinds farm families to the value of taking time to prepare.

Although the sense of urgency is understandable, it can be costly and preparedness is critical.

There may be, in the middle of harvest, a lockdown or a shortage of things deemed essential to getting the job done.

If you were to write down all that you must have to successfully harvest, what does that list look like? Does it include key people, time to rest, extra food, parts and fuel, a contingency plan if a person becomes ill, servicing all equipment thoroughly ahead of time, a planned surprise gift or event for the staff at the conclusion of reaping or the backup of medical or mental health consultations? Will there be time, joyfully given, for staff and family to walk away from the field if a family member has a short window to drop in or a senior is allowed family visits?

And what of those little humans who bring us such joy? What is the plan for their comfort, safety and need for interaction? Ensuring that we carve out time to play, even during harvest, keeps balance in the child’s life and in ours. This is banking time.

Banking time is like fuelling the reserve tank. Not only have we created special memories and left our family and staff feeling valued, but we also then have a little extra alertness to give our work. This too saves lives.

A fatigued body can misfire. It could be not seeing the child zip out in front of the truck, getting too close to the edge of the ditch or forgetting to shut equipment off. A misfire could include simple things like missing a meal or ignoring that grinding sound. A fuelled mind and body appreciates the importance of banking time together and alone.

Time alone

Time alone to sort out our day and our priorities is equally important for men and women. Everyone needs a break and that day off when time is being banked might look like a split shift. The one in the field, be that mom or dad, might find a raft of youngsters cast upon them for a short period as the individual running the command centre seeks reprieve. Be flexible.

Most important is the alone time for introspection and observation. Answering the introspective question of: How am I doing? And the observational question of: What is going on?

How you are doing is really a deep dive into your needs to keep going. What is going on is a deep dive into the interplay of all that is happening. Both need time, your time at harvest to ensure the health and safety of all.

Time is our most valuable currency. We can fool ourselves into thinking that the world ends because of a softball game on a Sunday, but that is not true.

What is true is that in Canada the majority of farm fatalities for men and women and boys and girls are rollovers, entanglement and suffocation. For those very old and very young, there is the added risk of being run over. Safety equipment is critical but so is common sense, training and education, appreciative leadership, respect, preparedness, good food, play and banked time. This we can do.

The post This harvest, take a bit of time to do things differently appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

An ammonium nitrate stockpile exploded last week in Beirut killing at least 171 people, injuring 6,000 and leaving a quarter of a million people homeless.

Nutrien, the world’s biggest fertilizer maker by capacity, produces ammonium nitrate at Redwater, Alta., and sells it to customers in the mining industry, CEO Chuck Magro said in an interview.

The company does not sell ammonium nitrate for agricultural use, and the industrial chemical is a small part of the company’s overall business, he said.

“I strongly believe that what we’re doing here to produce this product, that is needed for the mining industry, is very well-handled in Canada,” Magro said.

Some of the world’s deadliest industrial accidents have involved ammonium nitrate, including a 2013 explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency, said in a statement on Friday that regulatory changes in the United States are necessary to prevent future catastrophes.

Nutrien’s ammonium nitrate is stored under 24-hour surveillance and monitored by heat detection systems. There are restrictions on how much can be stored in a location, Magro said.

Nutrien spokesman Will Tigley said the company does not store ammonium nitrate outside its plant and has tracing protocols for all shipments.

Lebanese authorities said 2,750 tonnes of the industrial chemical had been stored for six years at Beirut’s port without safety measures.

Experts say the Beirut explosion should be a wake-up call for countries regarding the dangers of ammonium nitrate.

Quantity, ventilation and proximity to flammables are seen as critical, as is distance from population centres.

— Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent covering the ag and mining sectors from Winnipeg; additional reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago.

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The Livestock Marketing Association of Canada has a conference call set for this evening to discuss COVID-19 safety measures for staff, customers and buyers, said Chance Martin, an LMAC director and president of the Alberta Auction Markets Association.

“It’s obviously very important to keep commerce going and to keep cash flow moving in the cattle industry, using all these guidelines provided by the government,” said Martin, an owner/fieldman and auctioneer for Thorsby Stockyards.

“We’re going to do our best to do that as much as possible.”

There are reports that prices at auction sales are down significantly, and that’s a concern, he said.

“We’re looking out for our customers and will try and talk to the government officials about putting up some cash flow in these trying times too.”

Regular sales are going forward, but the numbers of attendees are not necessarily that high, he said.

“Regular cattle sales, it’s not such a huge issue,” he said. “Sometimes bred heifer sales bring in more farmer-type buyers, and then it can be an issue.

“But as far as a stocker/feeder sale, it’s just more the professional buyers. Big crowds aren’t a huge deal. We will be using safe practices.”

Martin added his company has had a staff meeting to address safety protocols for reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

— Alexis Kienlen reports for Alberta Farmer from Edmonton.

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So how do you bring order to that chaos and keep everyone safe? Ask Hanneke Camps and she’ll tell you communication is the key.

Although everyone talks about the importance of communication, Hanneke and Michel Camps — who run a potato, wheat, sugar beet and grain corn operation near the southern Alberta community of Barnwell — have truly taken it to heart.

This has meant a change in management style from a traditional top-down model to something more lateral.

“I find that the biggest thing that’s changed on our farm is that everybody can talk about (farm safety),” she said. “It’s a team effort. If anybody sees something unsafe or sees somebody do something unsafe, then anyone can call each other on that.

“I think in the old days (farm management) was kind of, ‘You go to work and you listen.’ I think that has changed. Like any business you do it together with your employees; it’s not just my husband and I who make it all work. We need our employees; we need good help to make ourselves profitable.”

A personal challenge

It’s safe to say that Camps knows a thing or two about farm safety. The couple built their farm safety program in 2017 with the help of the organization that would become AgSafe Alberta. However, Hanneke — who serves on AgSafe’s board — wasn’t satisfied with just having a safety plan; she wanted to put it to the test. She did so by receiving her Certificate of Recognition (COR).

A requirement in many industries but not for agriculture, COR certification requires regular auditing of an employer’s health and safety management system to ensure it meets provincial standards established by Occupational Health and Safety.

“We don’t have to be COR certified as a farm. It was more by choice — finding out what we could achieve,” she said.

She let her COR expire this year but noted that AgSafe Alberta is considering developing a more ag-focused certification program.

Managing ‘common sense’

The Camps’ employee safety training has evolved over time.

They started with, and continue to hold, approximately hour-long training sessions in the spring before seeding and again in the fall before harvest using AgSafe videos to help explain safety procedures and expectations to employees. Seasonal workers are walked through the farm’s emergency stops.

This training has become more responsive to new situations, said Camps, with safety concerns tackled as necessary during coffee breaks or other downtimes.

“It’s become more of an ongoing training program — instead of having one big session one time, we will have a training session every time we get new people,” she said. “Then we might have one a few days later again for more new employees.

“This past year I built a small PowerPoint presentation. It’s made it much easier. We talk about farm safety and food safety — which is important on our potato end — and then they have a little questionnaire to fill out. With that they sign off that they actually did the safety training.”

The needs of seasonal workers with varying degrees of farm experience are an ongoing concern. It’s crucial for a manager not to take “common sense” for granted, she said.

“My seasonal employees only come here for a couple of weeks out of the year. Some of them are unfamiliar with the equipment we’re working with and with that comes a big risk. We talk about ‘common sense’ but that’s different for everybody. What we as owners think is common sense may be way different from somebody who comes on the farm and doesn’t know the equipment.”

It may be counterintuitive for managers to tell diligent employees to slow down on the job, but that’s exactly what Camps does to reduce the chance of accidents taking place.

“During potato harvest we have a lot of traffic in the yard and sometimes we have to make sure everybody understands what the rules are, like making sure a driver sees you before crossing in front of a truck,” she said. “We tell them, ‘You work by the hour so just go the long way. The safe way. That way everybody will be able to see you.’”

Camps takes a similar approach with her children.

Although all of her kids are in school and no longer around for much of the working day, she still takes time with them once a year to review safe practices on the farm.

“With the kids — before harvest for sure — I take them on a safety tour and we just review. They learn things like the location of the fire extinguisher and waving at the driver when there’s a truck in the yard. If they wave back then you’re good to go because they have seen you. Little things like that.

“We have a lot of safety stuff on our farm but sometimes the kids are forgotten. You think, ‘Yeah they’ll know,’ but it’s good to talk about it and show them what’s all in place.”

Checking in and buddying up

Employees working alone ranks among Camps’ biggest on-farm concerns.

A big safety protocol on their farm is making sure management and employees know where lone workers are located and checking in with them periodically.

“We have two-way radios in all of our tractors and vehicles so it’s easy for somebody who is alone to get help if needed. We hear each other on the radio, so if we don’t hear from somebody for a long time my husband will just shoot a quick text to make sure everything is going good out there or to find out how far away someone is. That’s basically our check-in system.”

Grain bin engulfment accidents are one of the most common — and fateful — risks on any grain operation. The Camps prevent these by simply never going into the bins except for post-season cleanup, in which they use a buddy system.

“We always have two people in there when we clean them out. That’s just the common sense we’ve been talking about.”

For farm managers wishing to build a safety culture on their farms, she suggested starting with small pieces and working on it over time.

“AgSafe Alberta has some great QuickStart guides and videos to get you going as well as a new manual and workbook and advisers who can work with you to build a safety program.”

The post ‘Common sense’ isn’t an alternative to communication appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

It is made especially memorable when watched rising while having a tailgate supper, or when moving into the next pass without interruption of light or landscape. It is these moments we treasure at harvest time.

Everyone on the team should have a moment to stop and enjoy the harvest moon. It may be to reflect on the day, on a relationship, on one who has been lost or on the bounty of the harvest. Taking time to stop and think — even for just 10 minutes — allows for our minds to clear and for our bodies to recalibrate.

Walking away from the combine or truck for a minute gets our blood moving and carries oxygen to the brain. This is not precious harvest time lost, it is time captured. And in the prevention of injury or death, it could be a lifetime gained.

Every year, at least twice a year, I write about farm safety. I have shared stories of my own bad decisions and there are more in the memory bank. It is the fear that I felt watching Dad trapped under a piece of equipment, or my baby girl wander into a pen of 500 head of cattle, or my brother jackknifing down a hill or my own exasperation at another shear pin gone and how that held up the whole lot. It could be as complicated as a computer glitch on the combine to as simple as getting stuck — but it all creates anxiety and if you are an employee, perhaps it also creates fear.

Making harvest as inviting as the harvest moon takes some planning.

To start with, communicate — don’t isolate.

Communicate the plan to the whole team including your support and cooking crew. Go over scenarios if plans should change or one unit breaks down. Create a space that is welcoming and safe to work in by reviewing the goals of the day and the safety measures to get there. It is just as frustrating to the cooking crew to go into a field to find it finished and no communication on the next place as it is for a young operator to break down and have no idea how to handle the situation when they have not been given support or tools. And if it is your farm and these folks are working for you, be sure they are insured against injury.

Review the protocols for the harvest, for breakdowns, delays, servicing, end-of-day cleanup, check-in, expected interruptions or breaks in the day, injuries and meals. Do this each and every day.

Hydrate.

Long hours away from the house or office where the water tap is easily accessed makes for dehydrated workers. A large jug of fresh and clean water should be part of the first aid kit in each and every piece of equipment. And if there are other health concerns, such as diabetes, then extra nutrition on board is absolutely essential. There should also be handy wipes, toilet paper, a phone charger, tools, paper towels or rags, a fire extinguisher and a list of contacts including equipment service providers.

Keep the tank full.

Not only the fuel tank but the food tank, the support tank and the discussion tank. Openly remind folks of the hours being logged and ensure there is nutrition ready for them. They can’t just jog down to the local café. Nutritional bars or full meal drinks could be part of the morning meeting, allowing for men and women to take what it is that they need. Like the checklist on the equipment, ensure that every person is working and functioning to full capacity.

The old view of the ‘hired man’ died decades ago. You are forming a team and in many cases your farm is nurturing a community. Many of your primary owners, operators and managers will be women who may have different needs and it is up to you to ensure those needs are met. Healthy, happy, refreshed and engaged workers bring in a safe harvest. Tired, anxious and hungry help cannot.

Creating a nurturing environment for men and women fosters respect and invites interest in what they do and, more importantly, in what you do. It lays the foundation for a greater engagement in moving up in the farm and allows for dialogue that is super valuable.

So if you see the crew stopped and just walking to the crest of the hill to fully embrace the harvest moon, smile — and go with them and share that moment of awe.

If you have never stopped to do this before, do it this year.

The moon is there to remind us that we made it through today and that it will bring another tomorrow. That huge orb unites us with farmers and farm workers around the world who honour the land and her people caring for the safety of the very hands that feed us.

The post Schoepp: Seize, prepare for and appreciate the day appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

As I watched my grandson, his seven-year-old bravado struck me. It was a side of this sensitive boy that I had not seen so boldly displayed before. Confident and courageous, he jumped, skidded, bumped down steps, crested hills, and made sharp turns on his bike.

What struck me was his amazing ‘try’ and I noted this with all the participants at the large cement park. For every successful manoeuvre, there were at least 10 failures or outright crashes. But again and again, the determined bikers and boarders got up to try.

It was to me one of those life lessons.

I thought of myself and my many failures, and of my growing or enlightenment and my desire to try again. In the country, on the farm, in the city, wherever we are — our life can mirror the challenges resembling a skate park even when the course changes. There is no certainty of a backstop as change is a constant. As I put on my helmet I thought of its importance.

• More with Brenda Schoepp: There is common ground that bridges the urban-rural divide

In the skate park the helmet was to protect my head. I likened it to the putting on of a helmet on the farm. What is a farm helmet? What does it represent?

Like a helmet, good insurance protects us. This may not only be life or disability insurance, or fire or theft insurance, but also crop or price insurance. It is a tool we use to protect us. Managing both price and risk is important on the farm. Looking at locking in input costs when they are low may be beneficial, as may contracts that allow an acceptable margin. For every size of farm, there are ways to protect your family and your investment.

The helmet also represented wellness to me as it focused on prevention.

The prevention of our illness or collapse at home can be part of a mantra for living. Eating well and getting in some exercise, even if it is 10 minutes of stretching helps. Eating well also means having what it is that your body needs on hand. More than once I have been party to finding quick solutions when a diabetic farmer friend passed out.

The No. 1 fatality for women in Canada is a heart attack. I had the opportunity to have some long conversations with an experienced RN in cardiology this past summer. What he said surprised me. The prevention of heart attacks, he explained, was influenced largely by exercise and sleep. Taking breaks to walk for even 10 minutes and have a nap is equally important to men and women. The lack of sleep has also been directly tied to breast cancer. Women farmers need to ensure they have an opportunity for appropriate rest.

Disease work-related fatalities are increasing in Canada and having this awareness is important. I relate closely with asthma, and now live my life preventing an attack. As I farmed and worked long hours in dust and diesel, and in the bovine dairy and feed yard, my asthma took hold. Now I no longer can attend an indoor farm show or go into an underground parking lot. It is not that it is uncomfortable, it can be deadly.

Recognizing the changes in our bodies and what we need to do to control and prevent disease is critical.

Things do happen and as I thought of that helmet my grandson so lovingly adjusted on my head, the idea of prevention became so paramount.

Don’t go out without the proper lighting. Don’t put your kids in the grain cart. Don’t go round the clock without eating or napping. Don’t make your 10-year-old drive a three-ton truck. Don’t force cattle into a blind spot. Stop and think.

Ask yourself if everyone on the farm has first aid and if not, then why not. Not only does first aid potentially save lives, but it brings a new level of awareness to families and leads to the important conversations of who to call and what to do when life goes off the rails. Communicating where you will be on the farm, what you will be doing, how long it will take, and what the expectations of the day are create inclusiveness. As a farm family or farm team, you are in this together.

You would not attempt the skate park without a helmet, why would you attempt to farm without a wellness plan?

The skate park was new to me but my grandson reminded me it was my turn and so with helmet in place, and under the watchful eyes of that little boy, I jumped on the bike and aced the skate park. I had to ‘try’ — I would not be a farmer if I didn’t!

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“Always take the time to first go through the activity of training the youth, even if it feels repetitive or redundant — this will ensure they learn and practise the safest way to do the job,” said Janice Donkers, provincial farm safety youth co-ordinator.

Here are some tips to help train young workers effectively:

• Explain techniques that will make a task easier.
• Provide comprehensive training for complex tasks such as equipment operation.
• Specify dos and don’ts of safe equipment operation.
• Ensure appropriate warning decals are in place and understood by all workers.
• Identify hazards and show how to eliminate or control them.

Once training is complete, monitor job performance to ensure your workers fully understand the job and are following all safety precautions.

If you have very young children, build a safe play area, said Donkers.

“A safe play area is a carefully planned, designated location for children with limited exposure to hazards such as traffic, agricultural production equipment, and environmental concerns,” she said.

A safe play area should:

• Be designated and reinforced by boundaries or physical barriers such as fences, gates or shrubs.
• Be within sight and sound of a responsible adult.
• Have safety rules for all children, including additional explanations for visitors and friends.
• Be away from vehicle traffic and other hazards such as machinery or unstable structures.
• Be free from loud noises.
• Be free from open water and drowning hazards such as ponds, dugouts, or ditches.
• Have adequate shade from the sun along with shelter from the wind, dust, or hazardous airborne particles.
• Have first aid, handwashing, and toilet facilities nearby.

More harvest safety tips are available on Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s website.

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