St. John Ambulance Wants Farmers to take Safety Seriously
March 12, 2010 (Toronto, ON) – Canadian Agricultural Safety Week runs March 14 - 20, 2010 and this year we want to encourage members of the agricultural sector to make safety a top priority. Farming is one of Canada’s most dangerous occupations. Hazards such as heavy machinery, unpredictable animals, and harmful chemicals are apart of routine farm activities. Distances from medical assistance is also a factor. Most farms are more than 30 minutes away from help.
The safety and well being of Canada’s food producers is critical and that’s why St. John Ambulance is proud to offer a First Aid on the Farm course. Students learn how to deal with farm specific emergencies and more importantly, they learn how to establish a safety plan. Each participant is given a Farm Audit booklet that has a checklist for critical areas of safety, including:
- General Emergency Preparedness & Safety, Farmyards, Fields and Lanes, General Farm Buildings (storage), Power Take Off, Farm Tractor Safety, Combine Safety, Workshop and Special Structures, Pesticide Storage, Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety.
Safety is hard work, but every farm should make the effort. Here are some tips from St. John Ambulance to get your farm started.
- Get Trained in First Aid: Knowing how to deal with an emergency can help prevent a disaster.
- Keep a Kit: There should be a first aid kit in every building on your property; a first aid kit will do you no good if you can’t get to it.
- Personal Protection is a Must: Personal protective equipment such as eye/face protectors, respirators, protective clothing, and so on, are designed to keep you safe - use them!
- Map it Out: Make sure each building has the floor plan posted in a visible spot, with the emergency exits clearly marked.
- Plan Ahead: Create a disaster plan and make sure everyone knows it. Where should you meet in case of a fire? Who will call/go for help? Do you need to alert neighbours? Think of everything that can go wrong and figure out what you will have to do in response.
- Don’t Forget the Animals: Your farm safety plan should also include how to protect your livestock and other domestic animals. In an emergency, when you are panicking trying to take care of your people, animals can be forgotten or get loose and cause even more chaos.
Farming is essential for life, and the safety and well being of our agricultural workers should be top priority for everyone involved. To book a first aid class, or to find out more about First Aid on the Farm, visit
www.sja.ca/on. For more tips and information on farm safety, visit the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association
http://www.casa-acsa.ca/english/.
For 125 years, St. John Ambulance has been training over 140,000 Ontarians annually in first aid and other health care related courses and remains dedicated to saving lives at work, home and play. With over 4,000 volunteers contributing over half a million hours of community service a year, St. John Ambulance is an integral part of the community offering such unique and innovative programs as: medical first response, disaster response, car seat clinics, health and safety related youth programs and therapy dog services. As a charitable, non-denominational, humanitarian organization, proceeds from St. John Ambulance’s first aid training and first aid product sales directly support these vital community services programs. For more information on St. John Ambulance training courses and volunteer opportunities or to contact your local branch, visit
www.sja.ca/on