PAGE EIGHT Inside Wellington - Second Section of The Wellington Advertiser, Friday, March 5, 2010
Canadian Farm Safety Awareness Week
March 14 - 20
Farmers need to consider safety habits as a factor in who they hire An important part of effective farm management is hiring and keeping quality farm labour, often in competition with nonfarm employers for skilled workers. There are a number of things that should be considered in the hiring process to help ensure that you hire the right person.
“Hiring the right people means accurately assessing each candidate’s knowledge and experience for the position,” says Greg Stewart, FCC president and chief executive officer. “Hiring workers with appropriate skills will help protect you from costly risks and ensure the health and safety of your
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employees.” Before interviewing a prospective employee, prepare a list of questions about the various skills you need in a worker. Then use a conversational style of interviewing to evaluate the candidate’s skill levels as you and the candidate walk around the farm. For example, ask the prospective employees what they would do if the combine plugged or if a cow was having trouble calving. Perhaps ask them to fill the tractor with fuel and give a choice between diesel fuel and gasoline. Make it clear that inexperience is not a bad thing as long as the worker knows to ask for advice. Employees add a number of responsibilities, liabilities and legal requirements to an employer. Be sure to check with your provincial labour relations office to ensure you meet all requirements with regard to taxation, worker compensation, medical insurance, work visas, worker protection standards, minimum
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wage, benefits, driver’s license, and child labour laws. Money is a big consideration in labour management but there are other important considerations as well such as benefits and incentives. Whatever “wage package” you offer an employee, be sure it is clear, measurable, in writing, and commensurate with experience. Ask yourself these questions: Is the wage offered competitive with those of industry and other agricultural employers? What would it cost to train and hire someone to replace a worker? How should employees be paid – by the hour, week, or month? What about overtime? What does a competitive fringe benefits package look like? (i.e. housing, utilities, meat, medical insurance, holidays, paid training, etc.) What should my incentive plan be? (i.e. related to production, profits, or unspecified bonus?) “Employees are looking for
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most effective profitability tools on your farm.” The CFA, CASA, FCC and AAFC want to remind Canadian farmers that “Plan • Farm • Safety.” means that hiring and keeping good farm workers is an important part of risk management and farm management.
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a positive work environment that includes recognition and respect,” says Stewart. “While employers want employees to show initiative and pride in their jobs and to contribute to a profitable business, offering a pleasant and conscientious work environment could be one of the
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Consider the human factor when thinking safety by Theresa Whalen The most frequent causes of farm-related injuries include the unsafe use of machinery or material handling practices followed by fatigue, trying to save time and miscommunication between workers, according to the Census of Agriculture 2001. And common sense tells us: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. On average, 115 people are killed and at least 1,500 are hospitalized for farm-related incidents in Canada each year, according to the Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program.
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In 2006 alone, a total of 13,801 Canadian farms reported one or more medically treated or lost time injuries, according to Statistics Canada. Rushing, fatigue, frustration, and complacency are too often the root human factor causes of farm related injuries. During planting and harvest seasons it is common for farmers to work 18-hour days and that’s when human factors can easily turn into tragedy. “Most people think of personal protective equipment as being work boots, goggles and hard hats. In fact, it can be anything that makes doing a job safer,” according to Laurent Pellerin, of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. “I think the most important personal protective equipment is a person’s attitude and that could mean walking away from a frustration for a few minutes or taking a 20 minute snooze when you are exhausted.” Although the human factor is a significant cause of farmrelated hazards – humans are also the most important factor in farm safety solutions. Safety is about your choices. It just takes a moment to make a choice that could literally be the difference between life and death. Choose safety. For both the worker and the business – good safety makes good sense. More information on this and other farm safety topics is available at www.casa-acsa.ca or www.cfafca.ca. Theresa Whalen prepared this article as the CFA Farm Safety Consultant.
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