Fall
2015
grainswest.com
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Chorney thinks the changes have
helped make safety a priority for
Manitoba farmers, even if it’s not yet
reflected in the statistics. “I’m really
seeing a cultural shift away from
something like, ‘Don’t talk to me, this
isn’t my problem, I’m busy in the field,’
to, ‘You know, maybe I do want to learn
about this.’ People learn that it’s not a big
bridge to cross.”
He has even noticed a change in
his own attitude. Recently, Chorney
attended a KAP-sponsored safety
workshop, and suddenly found himself
looking around his farm with fresh eyes.
“I came back from that meeting, and
I had a broken stepladder I was using
by my fuel tanks,” he recalled. “I threw
it away. It cost me $75 to buy a new
ladder. It’s a simple thing to do. Really,
I shouldn’t be climbing on a broken
ladder, right? That’s stupid.”
In Saskatchewan, farms have long
fallen under provincial OHS regulations.
Harvey McEwen, a veteran grain farmer
in southeastern Saskatchewan, said
that most farmers don’t give it much
thought. “I don’t think our farm is much
different than anybody else’s, in that
we have attempted to be safe for the
last hundred years,” he said. “Nobody
wants to get hurt.”
All the same, McEwen empathizes
with the anxiety currently felt by some
Alberta farmers and ranchers. “I
suppose, like most farmers, we’re not
anxious to have more regulations put on
our businesses than we already have,”
he said. “But this is one area where farms
do have to catch up—particularly now
that farms are becoming larger and more
commercial, and have employees, not
just casual, weekend family members
helping out.”
McEwen’s son Blair wonders if some
Saskatchewan farmers are aware
that they even have official safety
responsibilities. “I think, for the most
part, nobody really feels affected by it at
all,” he said. “It’s still extremely relaxed
on the ag side when it comes to rules
and regulations for health and safety.”
Although workers’ compensation
coverage is optional in the province,
Blair recently opted in for the employees
on his family farm. He was grateful to
have it this past winter, when a worker
injured his back after slipping on some
ice. “He hasn’t worked since February,”
Blair pointed out. “Who’s going to
pay his bills?” Since then, he has been
spreading the word. “I try to preach that
to everyone I know—go get workers’
compensation. It’s cheap, it’s reliable.”
AHEAD OF THE GAME
McEwen would get no argument from
Michael Kalisvaart. Kalisvaart runs
a 12,000-acre grain operation near
Gibbons, AB, employing eight or
nine people year-round and about 15
during harvest. He had been relying
on a private insurance provider to
cover his staff, but voluntarily switched
to workers’ compensation to provide
more extensive protection. He had
worried that it might be expensive or
come with too many requirements. “Our
impression was that there was a lot of
interference as far as requiring safety
regulations and things like that—that
they would cost us a fair bit of money to
get our farm up to a safety code similar
to other commercial enterprises. But
we found they were very reasonably
priced,” he said. Kalisvaart thinks the
farm is almost ready for a Workers’
Compensation Board safety audit,
which would reduce costs even further.
Workers’ compensation coverage
reduces Kalisvaart’s own liability
exposure, but he insists that the switch
was more for his employees’ sake. “It
was more income protection—that if
something did happen, they would have
good coverage, and we wouldn’t have
the heartache and the guilt of having
somebody struggle for the rest of their
life with their income,” he said.
For other farmers who wish to stay
ahead of the issue, the Government of
Alberta recently completed a successful
pilot for its Alberta FarmSafe Plan.
The program offers extensive learning
resources, along with training and
consulting services. Grants are also
available. The goal is to help farmers
develop health and safety systems for
their businesses. With a solid safety
plan in place, producers should be well
positioned to meet the requirements of
any new OHS regulations.
In the meantime, Sigurdson
promises ongoing consultation, clear
communication and a measured,
gradual approach. “Everybody doesn’t
have to turn on a dime—all of a sudden
the legislation’s changed, and now you
have to change by tomorrow,” she said.
“Clearly, we are looking at an approach
that is respectful of giving farm and
ranch folks an opportunity to make the
shift.”
BABY STEPS:
There are extensive learning resources, and training and consulting services, at
farmers’ disposal to help them meet the new requirements of any OHS regulations.
