Tractor Safety Training on Vancouver · PDF file- CASA Farm Safety Communicator’s Meeting - Safety Tips While You Are Pruning - New at FARSHA ... tractor training courses, including

Suite 311, 9440 - 202 St.

Langley, BC V1M 4A6

Tel: (604) 881-6078 or

Toll Free:

1-877-533-1789

Fax: (604) 881-6079

Email:

Web site:

[email protected]

www.farsha.bc.ca

In this volume:

- Tractor Safety Training

on Vancouver Island

- Congratulations PRT

Nursery Summerland,

BC

- FARSHA Activities for

the Orchard and

Vineyards 2009 Year to

Date

- Shop Safety. What’s

under Your “Kitchen

Sink”?

- CASA Farm Safety

Communicator’s Meeting

- Safety Tips While You

Are Pruning

- New at FARSHA

- FARSHA’s Family Grow

1

Congratulations PRT Nursery Summerland, BC

Tractor Safety Training on Vancouver Island

FARSHA wishes to congratulate NurseryManager, Ivan Haag, and all theemployees of PRT NURSERY inSummerland BC, for 502 claim free days. PRT has up to 45employees working at various times throughout the year,and have focussed on Safety Awareness at their nursery.

The recent Roll over Protective Structure (ROPS) project on Vancouver Islandgenerated a huge interest in Tractor safety and training in the Saanichtonarea. More than 35 farmers attended the training course that was conductedby Ken Lacroix, FARSHA's Regional Safety Consultant for Vancouver Island.The training was held April 29th at the Saanichton Fire Hall training room. Theday of training also addressed another common concern of those in attendance; farm vehicles onpublic roadways and highways. Many farmers said they had experienced problems when required tomove agricultural equipment on the roads in the Saanichton area. Most expressed that drivers oftenshow a lack of respect for “slow moving vehicles.” They shared examples of numerous near misses.

Saanichton's Mayor and their Fire Chief bothagreed with the group that more training andeducation is needed to safely operate tractorsand farm vehicles in the fields and on arearoads. A case study, which examines the chainof events that contribute to an incident, wasconducted with the group and a review of theinformation contained in the ICBC pamphlet,

was extremelyhelpful to them.

A special thanks to Bryce Rashleigh for contacting farmers and helping with the coordination oftraining and the Saanichton Fire Department for the use of their training hall.

Island farmers can contact Ken Lacroix, Regional Safety Consultant, for further informationregarding FARSHA's resources, training programs and presentations.

“Farm Vehicles On the Move”

Ron Ganczar

Okanagan-Thompson-Nicola Regional Safety Consultant

Ken Lacroix

Vancouver Island Regional Safety Consultant

Volume 11.2 June 2009

Think back to those early years and the valuable safety lessons our mothers taught us. Rememberthe chains and padlocks on the cupboard doors under the kitchen sink? You'd have to be Houdini toget at all that stuff! Even a curious youngster didn't think it was worth the pain to sample all thosemysterious liquids and powders. And if the proverbial “wooden spoon” was not enough of a deterrent,mother's lectures certainly were. She vividly described what the doctors and nurses would have to doif the liquids or powders were “accidentally” swallowed. Her warnings were seriously taken and we survived ourchildhood relatively unscathed, but many others have not been so fortunate.

On a recent farm visit and shop tour there was a green glass pop bottle on the shelf which appeared to have some liquidin it. How convenient it must be to have a supply of pop out in the shop. That wasn't the case. The owner admitted thatthe bottle did not contain pop but methyl hydrate and sheepishly agreed it was not a good idea to keep hazardousmaterials in a pop bottle. This potentially hazardous situation was quickly resolved by transferring the methyl hydrate intoa proper container, labelling and storing it in a safe location.

What's under your shops “kitchen sink”? Are you as careful with the hazardous materials on the farm or in the shop asyou should be? Think about the products and chemicals on the farm and make a list. You will probably be surprised -

flammable products, acids, cleaners, anti-freeze, and pesticides are examples of productsthat should be labelled and stored in a safe place. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) forhazardous materials should also be readily available. These sheets are provided free ofcharge by the supplier of the product and should be updated every three-years.

Be diligent and make sure you know what's under your shop's “kitchen sink”.

FARSHA can supply “Chemical Storage” signs to identify the area in which you store yourchemicals, whether it be a small cupboard or a large storage shed. These decals are highlyvisible and display a clear warning that hazardous materials are inside and caution should beused.


2 Farm and Ranch Safety and Health AssociationFarm and Ranch Safety and Health Association

Carol ReidProvincial Orchards and Vineyards Safety Consultant

Mike BurzekPeace River Regional Safety Consultant

FARSHA Activities for the Orchard and Vineyards 2009 Year to Date

Shop Safety. What’s under Your “Kitchen Sink”?

“Safety Through Knowledge”

BC's Orchard and Vineyard industry has had a busy first half of 2009.

The colder months have allowed Carol Reid, Provincial Orchards and VineyardsSafety Consultant, to follow-up and make improvements to manyemployers Health and Safety programs and enabled classroom trainingopportunities.

Activities have not focussed in one area but have been varied. Some examples include:

teaching a Viticulture class at Okanagan College the key elements of aHealth and Safety program,

presentations on Health and Safety responsibilities to six ProductionGuide meetings for the tree fruit industry,

safety committee training to a new committee,

fit testing and respirator training,

tractor training courses, including one in Spanish, and

numerous initial introductions of health and safety programs for bothorchardist and vineyard managers.

Now that the warm weather has arrived, it brings with it a variety of activities in the Okanagan. Vineyardshave begun shoot thinning and suckering, apples will require thinning and cherry crops are soon to bepicked. This flurry of activity has FARSHA focussed on worker orientation of local and French Canadianworkers, as well as, the Mexican Guest Worker to ready them for safe employment on farms in theOkanagan.

For more information, contact Carol Reid, FARSHA's Orchards and Vineyards Consultant.

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CHEMICALSTORAGE

AUTHORIZED PERSONSONLY

IN CASE OF FIRE USEEXTREME CAUTION

FARSHAFD-12

Farm and Ranch Safety and Health Association

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Wear proper personal protective equipment(PPE) while you are pruning

wide-brimmed hat to protect face, head

and neck from sun exposure

hard hat or helmet when cutting overhead

goggles

ear plugs when using a chainsaw

gloves, with the appropriate size

well-fitting Steel-toed boots

long-sleeved shirts and long pants to

prevent cuts and scrapes and to keepsun off arms and legs

Keep pruning equipment sharp

Always carry pruning shears with the pointdown while walking or standing

Adjust shears if needed

Make sure blades are locked in place

Before climbing, set the ladder on firmfooting and face the ladder

Check ladder for damaged rails

Don't climb a ladder on stormy days

Look out for other people around you,especially when pulling canes or branches

Drink plenty of water before, during andafter each task

Take regular breaks

Use sun block when working outside.

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During the last month, Maria Calderoni, FARSHAProgram Coordinator, had the opportunity toattend a Farm Safety Communicator's meeting inOttawa, organized by the Canadian AgriculturalSafety Association (CASA).

Representatives from numerous organizationsfrom the Canadian Agricultural Industry joined toshare their past and present provincial successesand challenges, and to help determine national farm safetycommunication themes and tactics for the next three years, and forthe annual Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW).

Some of the past and present provincial themes discussed were:

Nova Scotia: the evolution of a farm safety association in NovaScotia and the impact of a farm women's health forum. Women'sInstitute sponsored a farm safety day for kids 8-12 years that comeswith an organization manual.

Alberta: Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Farm SafetyTeam have been promoting a new Safety Up campaign that isfocussed on educating new and young farm workers, ages 17 to 24.

Manitoba: held a provincial health safety seminar and the possibilityof Keystone Agricultural Producers helping to organize a Manitobafarm safety organization.

Saskatchewan: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety inAgriculture is in direct contact with 28,000 farm families to promotehealth and safety; held respiratory and hearing clinics across theprovince; and will launch a Sleepless in Saskatchewan DVD.

Ontario: A major successful event was EquiMania! at the RoyalAgriculture Winter Fair; attending activities for over 20,000 childrenand families, this event was held thanks to the partnership of FarmSafety Association with Equine Guelph and Kubota as a corporatesponsor; this project will continue in 2009. The Assembly of FirstNations Health bulletin used SafetyKids information to send to 650First Nations, and signed a memorandum of understanding withRed Cross for future safety collaborations. CropLife Canada iscontinuing in safe pesticide storage. Working human safety inCanadian Pork Council, food safety and emergency preparednessinitiatives.

Prince Edward Island. Discussion of farm safety initiatives from Workers Compensation in PEI. SafeKids Canada Week willtarget young-parents. SafeKids introduced a program they adapted from the Children Rural Health and Injury Preventionprogram from the US for its use in Canada.

There was a speaker, Ira Wagman, from Carleton University who encouragedus to try new media communications using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace andblogs to communicate agricultural safety messages and to keep farm safetyprofessionals and organization current, the benefit is, it is free of cost.

FARSHA's process used to communicate safety was outlined. FARSHA hasdeveloped an Agricultural Health and Safety Program (AH&SP) templatewhich can be used by any commodity in BC, and recently, a specific AH&SPfor the Greenhouse Industry. FARSHA also provides resource materials inEnglish, French, Spanish and Punjabi. FARSHA’s participation in the ROPsproject was explains.

Being able to share and listen to all the past year communication successes,the future plans, and worries about safety in agriculture was very significant tome. It was noted how important FARSHA work is for the Agricultural Industryand that we help to prevent incidents on the farms and ranches of BC,what a great thing!


Safety Tips While You Are Pruning

“Safety Through Knowledge”“Safety Through Knowledge” 3

CASA Farm Safety Communicator’s Meeting

Maria CalderoniProgram Coordinator

4


Board of Directors

Staff

Charan Gill, CFU

Jasbir Mann, CFU

Manpreet Grewal, (appointed by CFU)

Ralph McGinn, Chair

Tom Hoogendoorn, BCAC

Bill Zylmans, BCAC

Joy Gammie, BCAC

Bruce Johnson, Executive Director

Bruce Johnson, Executive Director

Gagan Grewal, Agricultural Health and Safety Specialist

Carolyn Pearce, Office Administrator

Maria Calderoni, Program Coordinator

Scott Fraser, Agricultural Health and Safety Specialist

David Nguyen, Agricultural Health and Safety Specialist

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Kevin Paterson, Kootenay

Trevor Tapp, Central Interior

Ken Lacroix, Vancouver Island

Reg Steward, Cariboo-Chilcotin and

Provincial Ranching Safety Consultant

Carol Reid, Provincial Orchards and

Vineyards Safety Consultant

Tel.: (250) 427-3958,

Email: [email protected]

Tel.: (250) 699-6466,


Tel.: (250) 758-9807,


Tel.: (250) 392-5937,


Tel.: (250) 765-7025,


Scott Fraser, Fraser Valley Agricultural

Health and Safety Specialist

Tel.: 604-996-7738


Ron Ganczar, Okanagan-Thompson-Nicola

Tel.: (250) 768-7693


Mike Burzek, Peace River

Tel.: 250-261-5979


David Nguyen, Fraser Valley Agricultural

Health and Safety Specialist

Tel.: 604-996-0927


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FARSHA Regional and Provincial

Safe

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on

su

ltan

ts

FARSHA’s Family Grows

The month of May gave ourassociation two bouncing,healthy baby boys.

Lincoln Scott Fraser arrivedfirst on May 19th. NathanDavid Nguyen arrived just10 days later. Our Moms andbabies are doing fantastic and Dads, Scott andDavid couldn't be prouder.

All of us at FARSHA congratulate them both.

FARSHAFarm and Ranch Safety and Health Association

The FARSHA Guardian has beenproduced by:

Editor: Maria Calderoni

Associate Editor: Carolyn Pearce

New at FARSHA:

Tractor Safety Training on Vancouver · PDF file- CASA Farm Safety Communicator’s Meeting - Safety Tips While You Are Pruning - New at FARSHA ... tractor training courses, including

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