Farm Accidents

[rkaiser]

Heard of a tragic accident resulting in the death of a elderly farmer over the weekend. Farming can be a hazardous occupation and certainly working with animals or equipment are both equally dangerous. It makes me wonder how many farmers have accident, long term disability insurance etc.to cover health related costs and lack of income if they are incapacitated in a farm related accident.

[Cattleman]

I think those sorts of things are often overlooked Emerald. Another scary issue is the number of farmers who have absolutely no estate planning done. Some farmers have every farm asset in only their name, and no proper will to handle the assets if they were to pass away. Probate and tax liabilities can tear appart, even well established farms, if no estate plan exists. Something for everyone to consider as well.

[Cattleman]

When my spouse passed away I settled the estate myself, and was able to do so because affairs were in order.

[Cattleman]

My main reason for this topic was the rash of accidents with livestock that seem to be happening in my neighbourhood this year. Broken legs, torn shoulders etc., my neighbours seem to be accident prone.....hope it isn't catching and thankfully no serious injuries so far !!

[Cattleman]

Yeah it is good when things are in order, but is often when the husband passes away, and had done no prior planning such as a will, or even joint names on land titles.

We have had a good spring so far, and hopefully we can keep away from the accidents!

As far as the cattle go, I was jsut thinking the other day with the crazy stuff we used to put up with cows at calving season and crazy bulls, it is good to see how our selection has sure weeded those animals out. Of course we still have the ones to "watch" at calving, but that is mother nature at work!

[cowman]

I figure there are so many things that can go wrong on a farm that you sure don't need to be putting up with a bunch of wild or mean livestock. Doesn't matter how good they might be, if they even look at me funny they are gone! Always a better one waiting in the wings?
Luckily farms are still exempt from a lot of the stupid safety stuff they have in the "real" world...but I suspect the "safety Nazis" will soon make their play to run the show?
I believe the argument will go something like this?...You unsafe farmers are starting to really take a toll on the old healthcare budget...so I'm afraid you will have to now follow all the industrial safety rules! When we got free medicare we started down a long slippery slope of taking away our freedom to decide what was best for ourselves? Government interference in our lives is seldom worth the "freebies" they hand out?
In the oil patch they went whole hog on the safety thing several years ago. Accidents have actually gone up despite the untold millions of dollars and hours spent on safety! But it sure gave a lot of slackards jobs!
The environmental/reclamation industry also got a big boost from government rules...with little actually being accomplished! This is how it is in the real world...the ones actually producing something are not important anymore? It is the "experts" that are important. Of course in the end all this deadweight makes the industry non-competitive and it folds up and becomes obsolete and the government can declare the business was "inefficient"! That seems to be a favorite word among government types?

[cowman]

cowman, farmers that hire employees are bound by Occupational Health and Safety rules just as any other industry and righfully so.
Accidents with cattle can happen in a split second, and the cow that was quiet for the past five calvings can suddenly decide that she needs to protect her baby at all costs !!!

I used to hire summer students on the farm and always attended the mandatory safety course provided by AAFRD. Interesting to note that the most accidents causing death happen out in the field away from the farmstead, usually because the farmer is working alone.

[daretodiffer]

Sorry Emerald anyone working on a farm in Alberta is not covered by Occupational Health and Safety rules, nor Worker's Compensation nor employment standards. Persons who work on a farm are free to be killed or injured without the bother of safety rules designed to reduce accidents and create safe worksites. The fact that farm accidents are in the top 3 of jobs with death and injuries makes no difference. It's even a risky business for a contractor such as an electrician or plumber to set foot on a farm as the rules and Worker's Comp coverage about safety are lifted.

I see that cowman's now a fount of knowledge about accident rates per thousand for the oil and gas sector. Great rationale to brush off safety guidelines by saying that they cause more accidents. Probably also applies to seat belts and speed limits.

[daretodiffer]

daretodiffer, sorry to disagree with you but I had on farm coverage with Workers Compensation all throughout the years I had employees on the farm. I have neighbours that carry WCB coverage at this time. During the time I had students employed here through the Summer Farm Employment Program it was mandatory to carry workers compensation.
You are correct, farming is a very high risk occupation and the premiums for carrying Compensation are directly related to the risk.

[daretodiffer]

Occupational Health and Safety Magazine has a Special on Farm Safety this month. Agriculture rates as the country's third most hazardous occupation.

AAFRD has a free CD-Rom available on Farm Safety through the Agriculture Education and Training Branch.Contact person is : Laurel Aitken 780-427-4187.

[cowman]

Well I'm not a fount of knowledge on the safety records of the oil and gas industry....just mentioned it because that is exactly what the instructor of a class I was taking told us two days before! Had to get the old H2S ticket renewed.
Now I don't know if this guy pulled that little fact out of his hat or something but he sure knew a thing or two about H2S as he has worked in that field about 40 years!
He also told us a H2S consultant currently draws a pay cheque in the neighborhood of $2200/day! Now I would say that is not to shabby! Sure beats slinging hamburgers or raising cows!

[daretodiffer]

Emerald, my comment was that workers on farms are not covered by Health and Safety Codes and I mean mandatory compliance. The legislation exempts farm businesses because of the farm lobby that "them kind of things don't apply to farm operations, we're different you know". So you are not required to abide by any of the safety rules of the OH&S regulations. Not anything to do with chemical handling, fall protection, protective footware and eyeware, Same with Workers Compensation coverage. In the farm sector, it is entirely your choice to have coverage and most don't. If you work in real industry the business all employees are covered by WCB. Yes just like your car and house insurance, that will bring with it some practical rules and conditions for keeping the coverage you have.
Yes the employees/students you had under Summer Farm were covered by WCB but you didn't pay for it, didn't register them with WCB and if there was an accident things were taken care of by the government. It is a risk management decision by the government to cover the students on the program. It protects their liability and is a good concept all by itself.
The fact that you had your employees registered with WCB over the years illustrates you are a very savvy business operator. And it would seem some of your neighbours as well. But you had to make a consious decision to take out WCB coverage, register each employee and make regular premium payments based on payroll levels. If you didn't, they weren't.

Only WCB operates under a no-fault insurance umbrella which private insurers don't have. That means if a worker is injured or killed, the business cannot be sued for damages and compensation. That provision alone, makes having WCB coverage for staff a very good risk avoidance tool.

The bottom line is that farm accidents don't happen from some totally unpredictable reason. Safety is an attitude and having no WCB and feeling smug about not being subject to those "safety Nazi's" as cowman suggested is directly related to the reason that farm work is so rife with injuries and fatalities. One can laugh all they want about those poor suckers who have to comply with work life regulations and guidelines but what does it say about farm operations as a place to work in today's competitive recruitment market.

[daretodiffer]

Cowman, perhaps as you say you aren't a font of knowledge. Sounded like you were in some position of wisdom judging by the blarney of:

"In the oil patch they went whole hog on the safety thing several years ago. Accidents have actually gone up despite the untold millions of dollars and hours spent on safety! But it sure gave a lot of slackards jobs! "

[daretodiffer]

daretodiffer, you are correct in saying that WCB coverage is voluntary. I would think that one reason for the increase in accidents in the oil and gas sector is likely due to the increase in number of people working in that sector. My eldest son was in charge of all aspects of the safety program for the largest tank truck company in this area of the oil patch for many years and certainly compliance with regulations became a huge issue with all areas of the oil and gas industry. I think that many accidents in the oil and gas industry are due to human error, just as they are in farming operations. I do appreciate cowmans comments on any issue, he, like the others who are regulars on this site, have a great deal of hands on experience to share with us.
We may not always agree with each other but we should respect each others ideas and comments.

[cowman]

Safety rules and regulations? There always is the world of "rules" and then there is the "real" world.
A typical example from this same H2S course: The instructor gave us a case example and we were supposed to come up with a solution. We were grouped together in small groups. In my group there were 4 kids and me and an old push. The kids all had the right answer while me and the old push were wrong! The case study was two guys were down at a drilling site and the wind was swirling. The leak was from an open hatch on a acid truck on an active drilling site.
The correct solution: The safety guy takes charge. He picks his best two guys(based on their training sessions!) to suit up and go get the downers. He sends the push to phone for help in the doghouse.
The wrong solution(me and the old push): The push takes charge. He is the boss and has the experience to deal with crisis. He tells his go-to-guys(the ones he knows won't panic and can get the job done) to suit up and get in there. He sends the safety guy to phone and tells everyone else to get the hell off the lease.
The instructor told us after if he went down he sure would rather have us in charge even though we had the wrong answer! That is what I call the "real" world.