LAKELAND – As the days get longer and Canadian producers hustle to get their seeds in the soil, exhaustion poses a real threat to farmer safety.
A lot of fatigue-related injuries happen during seeding and harvesting time, said Kellie Nichiporik, the environmental program manager at Lakeland Agricultural Research Association (LARA).
“Seeding season is really busy, everybody is trying to get all their seeds in, trying to work with the rains and the weather. You're working really long hours, you don't necessarily get enough sleep, and there can be a lot of stress,” Nichiporik said. “And people just don’t realize how tired they are.”
When there is a lot of work to be done and a short window to get it done, producers often push themselves to the limit, driving up the potential for serious farm-related injuries.
During Canadian Agricultural Safety Week last year, Nate Horner, the former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development, noted that "On average, 85 people die each year in Canada due to farm-related incidents. About 70 per cent of these deaths are machine related, and a staggering 13 per cent of the deaths are children.”
Nichiporik says it is important to ensure equipment is always in proper working condition if it is being operated, noting equipment failure can be fatal.
Whether producers are working independently or have multiple people involved in their operations it is important to stay alert. “There's a lot of moving parts that you have to be aware of. You might have guys delivering fertilizer or bringing more seed to the field or fuel,” she said.
“You're dealing with a huge piece of equipment. So, you have to be fully aware of where everything is if there's other people on the operation. People have been run over during operations.”
And no matter what, if friends or family come to help, it is important to make sure everyone is familiar with the equipment and they know what they are expected to be doing, added Nichiporik.
