'Accepted
risk' root of farm deaths
RANDY RICHMOND
Free Press Reporter
2004-11-19 03:12:32
What's working? What isn't? What can? The answers to all the questions about reducing farm deaths and injuries in Canada, say several experts, rest within one person -- the average Canadian.
"We see all kinds of reports in the public media that describe a fatality or severe injury as a tragic accident, a freak accident. We think, 'That's farming. Another farmer killed and that's a tough job,' " says Dr. Rob Brison, head of the Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program at Queen's University.
"We have accepted that risk is there and there is nothing to do about it. We are anchored in that opinion."
And partly because of that, there has been little change in overall farm deaths in Canada in 14 years of study.
"Nothing has changed dramatically since 1990," Brison says.
From 1990 to 2000 inclusive, 1,086 people died while working on Canadian farms. Another 170 people died from simply being on those farms.
And in that same 11-year period, almost 15,000 people had to be hospitalized for injuries.
The cost of farm injuries and fatalities to the Canadian health-care system and in lost productivity has been estimated at $200 million to $300 million a year, Brison notes.
Canadian farmers will be left out in the cold if they don't pay attention to increasing demand from consumers and international standards agencies for safe food and safe practices in agriculture, says Dr. Judy Guernsey, chairperson of the Canadian Agriculture Safety Association.
"We want to brand Canada as safe and healthy agriculture."
There's no comparison between children in Third World clothing sweatshops and a Canadian kid helping his or her dad. But Guernsey warns the international push against child labour may force Canada to rethink children on farms.
Society has an obligation to protect both children and adults who work and live on farms, Brison says.
Some measures to do that are beginning to work, he says.
For example, the number of tractor rollover fatalities in Canada is falling because new tractors must have rollover protection structures. Farmers appear ready for rules requiring retrofitting of older tractors, he adds.
Engineering in general is one of the best ways to start improving farm safety, Guernsey says.
"You can engineer out the hazard so it no longer exists, or is isolated."
The farm safety association has focused much of its effort on education.
An audit of the program in 2003, though, suggested education alone may not have much impact.
There was little statistical difference in the fatality rate before and after the Canadian association began a countrywide effort to educate farmers.
And 37 per cent of farmers who had attended a safety session couldn't even remember participating.
Ultimately, more legislation is necessary, Brison says, but only after farmers and the public are made more aware of the dangers in farming -- and the costs.
The education has to extend to consumers, say other farm experts.
Consumers want inexpensive food, says Kerry Preibisch, a University of Guelph professor specializing in migrant farm worker issues.
That worldwide demand for inexpensive food drives the low wages for farm workers, she says.
Vern Edwards of the Ontario Federation of Labour says education "goes only so far."
The OFL believes farm workers need legal help on two fronts -- protection under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the right to unionize.
The act would give farm workers the right to refuse unsafe work and unions would give them more protection from reprisals if they refuse, he says.
Ontario producers are willing to allow new rules, but not unions on their farms, says Hector Delanghe of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
Still, producers recognize the problem of farm safety runs deep and often rests within the attitudes of farmers themselves, Delanghe says.
"Some people don't want to listen. How do you get to those people?"
PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS
The Free Press series on farm safety concludes today. Here are some of the findings:
The problem: A child living or working on a farm is twice as likely to die from injuries as the average Canadian child.
The gap: There is no legislation preventing children from working or playing in farm work areas. There are difficulties getting child care for rural children.
The solutions:
- More education for farm owners.
- Legislation protecting young children on farms.
- Better rural child care.
The problem: Migrant workers can face greater risks because they are reliant on the farm owner for living quarters, transportation and even medical help.
The gap: Migrant workers who complain can be sent home without any appeal.
Possible solutions:
- Give migrant workers the right to appeal being sent home before an independent board. Beef up other rules covering migrant work.
The problem: Farm work in Canada is more dangerous than most other industries.
The gap: Farm workers rely on agencies that have few enforcement powers. In Ontario, farm workers are not covered by provincial safety laws nor do they have the right to join a union and demand more protection.
Possible solutions:
- Give farm workers the right to unionize.
- Give farm safety agencies more power.
- Put farm workers under provincial health and safety legislation.
- Better engineering and retrofitting of equipment.
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