Since you asked

Safety on the Farm

Story by Debbie Olsen
Photograph by Hugo Maas

Local tragedies have inspired community members to take action and raise awareness about injuries on the farm.

In 1997, a teenaged girl was driving a tractor on her family farm in a small Alberta community near High River. It was near the end of June, the first day of summer vacation. As she drove down the dirt path between her house and the barn, the tractor rolled. In that quick moment, Sandie Bexson – a lively 16-year-old with a love of horses, country music and basketball – was killed.

Every year, children and adults are killed in farming accidents in Alberta. One of the world’s oldest occupations, farming can also be one of its most hazardous. In 2003, there were almost 1,400 farm-related injuries requiring hospital treatment in Alberta and 14 farm-related deaths. In 2004, there were fewer deaths, but more than half of the farm fatalities were children, putting farm safety on the front page of newspapers and at the forefront of people’s minds.

While there was a time when such statistics were simply accepted as hazards of the profession, today farmers and health practitioners are working together to decrease on-farm hazards and increase safety awareness.

Safety First

Jan and Dennis Fawcett of High River recognize the importance of farm safety. Having raised four sons on their farm, they are well aware of the hazards of farming as well as its joys. “Dennis and I were both raised on farms and have farmed our entire lives. It’s a lifestyle we wanted our children to experience too,” explains Jan. “We raised them to put safety first and be very conscious of the hazards around the farm. If children learn at a young age, it becomes second nature to them.”

Like many modern farmers, both Jan and Dennis have off-farm jobs. They lead very busy lives trying to keep up with all of the responsibilities of those jobs while still planting crops and taking care of livestock. “Many accidents happen when people get too busy and are rushing to finish a job,” says Jan. “It’s important to slow down and take the proper safety precautions.”

Some of the basic safety tips the Fawcetts have learned include being careful around livestock, keeping safety guards on equipment, avoiding taking more than one rider on equipment that is not designed for it and keeping young children away from machinery. They also realize it’s important to make sure that children’s abilities are suited to the farm tasks with which they are helping out.

Rural Safety Camps

The Fawcetts have worked hard to promote farm safety on their own farm, but what really sets them apart is the work that Jan Fawcett has done to promote farm safety provincially. Working as a nurse practitioner in public health, Fawcett noticed that although there were programs for bicycle and vehicle safety, there was no health promotion program designed specifically to promote farm safety. When Sandie Bexson was killed, it sparked an awareness of farm safety in the community and Jan sprung into action, working with local people and the health authority to develop a rural safety program for children. The program is set up as a day camp with a variety of stations that present health and safety information, including presentations by local injury survivors.

Today, Jan’s Rural Safety Program is sponsored by the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) and has been presented in 50 Alberta communities over the past five years. The program has also won a number of awards, but the real benefit is that it is proving to be a useful tool in preventing farm injuries. “Children are required to bring along an adult, so these rural safety programs educate both children and adults and help make people aware of ways to decrease their own personal risk of injury,” says Fawcett. “Everyone is affected by agricultural injuries. If we can prevent just one injury or death it will have made all the work worthwhile.” For those who knew and loved Sandie Bexson, it’s reassuring to know that something so positive came out of her tragic death.

Preventing Injuries on the Farm: General Safety Tips

• No extra riders should be allowed on farm machinery.
• Obtain proper training for the machinery you are using.
• Equip machinery with guards and rollover protective structures when appropriate.
• Do not adjust machinery while it is being powered.
• Avoid operating machinery when you are fatigued, distracted, ill, or have been drinking.
• Never adjust machinery when it is powered.
• Do not wear loose fitting clothing around moving machinery parts.
• Tractors should be equipped with rollover protective structures.
• Wear your seatbelt and have a fully enclosed cab area to prevent from being thrown out in the event of a rollover.
• Learn how to properly handle and care for all large animals such as cows and horses.
• Always have an escape route when you are working in a confined area with large animals.
• Fence and enclose open water areas to prevent drowning; fill in abandoned wells.
• Never enter storage areas where grain is being loaded or unloaded, and never stand on top of grain.

Source: Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research

Facing the Challenge Head-on

It only took a few seconds for Rob McKeage’s life to change forever. In 1989, McKeage lost his left arm and had his right arm severely injured while operating a bailer on his Alberta farm. At the time, he was just 30 years old and he wondered if he would ever be able to cope with the injury and continue to look after his farming operation.

“I was pretty young and one of my biggest fears was that I wouldn’t be able to farm anymore. It took me so long to do the simplest task, but I discovered that if you keep trying, it gets easier and you can find a way to do it. You need to heal your mind as well as your body,” explains McKeage. “You may also need to change the way you do things. I can do most of the work on my farm, but I do use a hired hand for some things like repairing the combine when it breaks down. I also have the support of my family and my wife, Geri, who helps me so much on the farm and I can always count on her.”

Despite physical challenges, McKeage has been successfully running his own farm for almost 15 years since the accident. He has shared his inspiring survival story at several of Jan Fawcett’s rural safety camps to help educate young people about safety awareness.