SAFETY
What to expect
when safety
inspectors come
to your farm
BY JILL WINZOSKI
There’s a real chance a Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) officer will
pay a surprise visit to your farm – but fear not. Morag Marjerison is
here to help.
Morag, the farm safety consultant for KAP’s Manitoba Farm
Safety Program, goes the distance to make sure producers are up to
speed on the Workplace Safety and Health Act – and strongly urges
them to get their farms prepared.
“The legislation empowers an officer to carry out an inspection without notice
at any time,” she explained. “But we can be prepared in advance.”
According to WSH, agriculture experiences a high number of fatalities each
year, and workers are often working alone. Its inspections focus on training, supervision,
grain handling, power take-offs, farm implements, and working with chemicals.
While the act applies to every business owner, Morag says officers are more
likely to inspect businesses with hired employees, even if they’re temporary workers.
“It might mean they’re having to bring someone in for three weeks – say if they
have to truck grain for them, or someone who’s helping out three evenings a week,”
she explained. “A lot more farms do have workers at some point in time.”
To help farmers prepare, Morag visits farms to identify which parts of the act
would apply to their specific operation – depending on the type of farm and how
many workers it employs at any given time.
For example, she might ask whether seasonal workers are brought in, or if work
is exchanged with neighbours.
“If I can identify all the people who might work there over a year, I can be way
more specific in telling them which parts of the legislation will apply,” she explained.
The first time Morag visits a farmer, she typically focuses on the “non-physical”
aspects of inspection-readiness, clarifying what type of issues safety officers will
be looking for, what they can and cannot do during an inspection, and what
documentation is needed.
According to the Act, safety officers may “enter any premise, at any reasonable
time, where work is taking place, conduct interviews and ask questions, take pictures,
measurements or samples, gather information, as well as request, review and make
copies of documents. An officer may also issue orders that require an unsafe working
condition to be remedied by a specified time, stop work immediately until the hazard
is fixed, and consult with a technical or scientific expert in carrying out their duties.”
“We’re really just spending an hour or two improving the farmer’s understanding
of what this legislation is all about and what it means to them,” Morag explained. >>
Manitoba Farmers’ Voice § Fall 2019 § 29