bill c-6

[cottonpicken]

And then comes unionized labour?

[BTO_farmalll]

And Then Comes The Auction Sale,,,,,

[dmlfarmer]

Again, not for Bill C-6. But if all the fear mongering that is going on here is true, how come there is still agriculture in all the other provinces. After all, Alberta is the only province in Canada that exempts farmers and farm workers from OH&S! Why will agriculture fail in Alberta under OH&S when it survived OH&S in every other province?

Instead of using this bill as a soap box to attack Notley and the NDP, farmers should be accepting that this change was inevitable (3 years ago the PCs promised similar legislation) and work to ensure government understands the differences within our industry and even between farms which make strict regulation impossible. But it can be a basis for increased safety training and for investigating accidents to prevent future deaths and injuries.

[Oliver88]

Dml- There are not regulations for Saskatchewan farms.

I'm not sure about Manitoba, it doesn't sound like they have OHS officers visiting their farms either?

[dmlfarmer]

B.S. Oliver88: There are no specific regulations for farmers in Saskatchewan but Saskatchewan farmers ARE NOT EXEMPT from Saskatchewan OH&S legislation. From the Saskatchewan farm safety manual 2010:

"The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (OHS Act) and Regulations (1996) apply to all workplaces, including farms." "A self-employed person, including a farmer who does not employ others, has the same responsibilities under the OHS Act
as both an employer and worker combined. In short, they must give themselves and expect from themselves the same standards of health and safety, as is given to and expected from any other worker or employer."

From Saskatchewan OH&S
"Appendix A: Table 7 of The Occupational Health and Safety
Regulations, 1996
[Subsections 22(2) and 45(1)]
Employers at the prescribed places of employment, listed in Table 7, are required to:
• establish and maintain an Occupational Health & Safety Program; and
• designate a worker occupational health and safety representative if they employ 5-9
workers and engage in activities that constitute high hazard work.
Prescribed Places of Employment
1. Types of places of employment:
a) hospitals, nursing homes and home care;
b) metal foundries and mills; and
c) mines.
2. Places of employment at which the following types of work are performed:
a) aerial crop spraying, operation of helicopters, water bombing;
b) auto-body and automotive paint repairing, bumper electroplating, auto rust proofing,
auto glass installation, auto vinyl roofing, fibre glassing boats and autos;
c) building construction;
d) camp catering;
e) farming and ranching;"

ALBERTA is the only province which has exempted farmers and farm workers from OH&S!

OH&S can be oppressive or it can be so passive that people like you do not even know you are under OH&S legislation. The difference is in the fine print and that is what Alberta farmers should be working on - not trying to prevent losing the exemption because that is not a win-able war.

[Oliver88]

Tom covers the Sask system in this thread, he seems to be knowledgeable regarding this topic.

https://www.agriville.com/cgi-bin/forums/viewThread.cgi?1448556902

[dmlfarmer]

Oliver88: It doesn't surprise me that you consider what Tom wrote as more factual than a 2 direct quotes out of the Saskatchewan Farm Safety manual, and the exact wording from Saskatchewan OH&S. Reminds me of a post I once read that if I remember right said: "I read something on Facebook that appealed to my preconceived notions and evoked an emotional response, so... I'm gonna go with that instead."

Just because Saskatchewan does not enforce the regulations does not mean they do not exist. However, OHs&S has the powers to go onto Saskatchewan farms if they so see a need without further government regulations.

Alberta could do exactly the same thing as Saskatchewan or they could add more teeth to OH&S. That is what farmers need to address.

Oh, and Oliver. The best line from Tom's posts on the thread you mention is: "SK farms are mostly unaware of OHS... "

[Braveheart]

Is there a farm group left that's worth anything? A group that defends it's member's rights and interests to the end? Where's WRAP on this? Is everyone too politically correct or just focused on per diems and days away from the wife or husband?

Take off the gloves, dirty box till the fight is over. Take Notley, Sigurdson, and Carlier to school on the issue.

[katoe]

The best way to stop employees from starting a union is to treat them good.Sask pool employees were unionized years before ab pool.The union was always lurking around but couldnt get a foot hold till a disliked ceo took away some benefits and within a year the same ceo announced that the country staff had unionized. So try hard.I know lots do

[stonepicker]

What tom says above makes sense, if alta treats it like sask. then all is well. Is mb. like sask in this regard? I don't know anything about it.

[blackpowder]

OH&S can be oppressive or it can be so passive that people like you do not even know you are under OH&S legislation. The difference is in the fine print and that is what Alberta farmers should be working on - not trying to prevent losing the exemption because that is not a win-able war.

Agreed. Question. Farm operations large enough to unionize will just hire Mexicans for less?

[TOM4CWB]

DML,

Interesting that you know more than folks... including those who run OHS in Alberta...

Show me the actual regulations that are written for OHS in Sask... that spell out protocol and the fines for farm employers who fail to carry out those SaskOHS regulations. You have not showed them here. MB OHS does have regulations and enforcement protocols.

Hundreds of people are killed on our highways... perhaps hindsight prevention systems would stop these as well.
Show me where your time machine is!

[dmlfarmer]

Tom: I already provided the actual regulations that state farms and ranches fall under OHS jurisdiction. I will not repeat what I wrote above, but if you want to confirm it go to http://www.qp.gov.sk.ca/documents/English/Regulations/Regulations/O1-1R1.pdf which is the complete regs and read Table 7 yourself. It is on page 260.

As far as fines, there are no fines listed in the regulations for any transgression in any occupation. Nor are there specific regulations for every occupation; just additional protections for some - like oil and gas and logging.

To put this in perspective, you bring up highway accidents. I challenge you to show me where in the traffic laws says that you must must drive the posted speed limit in a 2012 F 150. The speed limit pertains to all vehicles and it is not necessary to list each and every vehicle for the law to be enforced. The OH&S regs lists farms and ranches as falling under its jurisdiction so it is not necessary to list every possible accident or safety concern on a farm as most are already covered in the general regulations.

[TOM4CWB]

DML,

Have you seen the OHS 'Handbook' that is 2 inches thick... with all the procedures for industry and consequences for not following this 'Bible' of Safety?

As I said[every time]... Farms do fall under OHS in Sask. If someone complained about some obviously unsafe situation... clearly they could refuse to take an order from an employer... and not do as instructed. Don't need OHS legislation for this choice.

IF that bad an employer relationship with their workers... I would quit. As can they. You refuse to get the point. Fine.

Over and Out.

[dmlfarmer]

Tom's last post is the reason c-6 is being shoved down Alberta farmer's throats. It is easy for someone who is likely worth millions to say if you feel what the employer is asking you to do is unsafe, then quit. Not so easy if you are a salaried employee, possibly living paycheque to paycheque and likely having a family to support in a rural area with limited employment opportunties.

True, you do not need OH&S to quit. But without OH&S protection, an employee simply cannot tell the employer he is not going to do something because it is unsafe if he wants to keep the job.

The employer "my way or the highway" is why OH&S came in the first time. The longer farm owners continue to believe that the only rights employees should have is to quit, the higher the demands for employee protection from both employees and government.

If all farmers treated employees well, paid them well, and did all they could to ensure their safety on farms, c-6 would not have been introduced. But we all know of farmers who are poor employers, and the accident and death rate show there is a problem in our industry.