Researchers identify trends that can help reduce farm injuries and fatalities
Sheila Bautz
Special to the Herald
According to the Government of Saskatchewan, agriculture is listed as one of the most hazardous industries in the province.
Beyond provincial borders, experts identified that the family farming culture is a crucial component to greatly reducing incidents of injury and fatalities. Today’s agricultural environment involves a unique blend of family and work culture.
The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) report that young and elderly farm family members are at a higher risk for incidents of injury and death on the farm. Thirty-six per cent of child deaths on family farm operations occur before children enter Kindergarten.
CASA is the largest rural safety and health education initiative in North America. The organization focuses on helping farm families recognize safety risks. Based on evolving research, the CASA association provides lifesaving education about farm safety and preventative measures that eliminate potential risks in agricultural settings.
Funded by the Government of Canada, the CASA organization receives additional financial supports from agricultural and corporate sectors nationwide. The association organizes farm safety awareness such as Safety Days for Children, Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, Grain Safety, Machinery Safety and Injury Reporting. CASA is an instrumental organization for gathering and sharing education about the farming culture.
Independent researchers support the concept that culture is a crucial foundational component in farm safety. In one study, a group of six researchers gathered data. Three of the researchers were from Alberta, one was from Ontario, Wisconsin and Illinois. They combined their intellects to analyze 23 years of data on child and youth farm injuries and deaths. Their data was obtained from the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR) system and involved 374 farm fatalities cases of children in Canada. The CAIR data focused on preschool aged children and youth working in a farming environment.
After analysis of the data, the six researchers identified the trends in farm incidents resulting in injury and death. Due to the pattern that emerged, the data shows areas were re-occurring incidents emerged at higher rates. The three highest rates of incidents causing injury and fatalities to children were machine related, involved animals and drownings.
The six researchers sought solutions to drastically decrease the severe injuries and deaths from occurring. Their conclusion about how to accomplish this involved an emphasis on the influence of generational farm cultures. Culture matters. It is the key towards positive progress and saving lives, yet culture can be one of the most difficult things to change.
“Starting at a young age, decisions by adults to permit their children to be exposed to farm work and associated environmental hazards are intentional, often after weighing and balancing the perceived benefits versus risks of such practices,” stated Donald Voaklander from the Injury Prevention Centre, School of Public Health at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, along with his team of researchers.
The influence of the farming family culture
The concept of culture involves a blend of qualities that create the social norms and acceptable practices within a family, a workplace, a community, and other areas of life. It involves learned behaviors that become custom or traditional within the group.
“Risk-taking by parents and other adults may also play an important role in the etiology of major injury to children on farms. Farmers commonly perform tasks that are deemed to be too dangerous for others on the farm,” stated the team of six researchers in their report. “Farm children and youth are also known to exhibit high levels of risk-taking relative to urban counterparts, whether this is exhibited as work behaviours learned through parental farm work models.”
Culture is defined by the attributes within a group of people who have shared traditions, values, beliefs, and the normalization of certain behaviors. It also includes the shared historical beliefs and traditions within a community, which create the basic identity of a group. Within the accepted norms, a culture can evolve. As new information is presented, it contributes to new practices that benefit the existing group of people.
For example, wearing helmets during horseback riding and rodeo events is now normalized, demonstrating the evolution of the rodeo culture with an emphasis on safety.
Culture involves an accepted set of standards and expectations for appropriate conduct within a collective group of people that becomes normalized. It includes family farm members who agree on appropriate clothing, footwear, safety gear, jewelry, and safety conduct. It is also based on the teaching methods and modes of operation passed from one generation to the generation.
CASA seeks to also transition the farming culture to ensure that farms have risk management in place to prevent injuries and deaths. The association influences the enactment of important federal and provincial policies to address the need for important changes in the farming culture. These changes include drawing on important topics that need to be addressed, such as child safety guidelines and child labor laws. This also involves an intricate and natural connection to injury prevention of children and aging adults while considering the occupational health and safety guidelines already in place.
With the aid of CAIR’s investigations, effective prevention intervention strategies continue to be developed to assist with family farm operations evolving their farming culture. Although the number of incidents for child and youth injury and death are starting to decrease through collective efforts by educational organizations and family farm leaders, the goal is to eliminate farming injuries and fatalities.
There are established national protocols in place to identify the incident patterns that lead to, and result in, family farm injuries and deaths. Ultimately, the effective evolution within the farming culture needs to remain in accordance with the established national protocols. It is the responsibility of the leaders on a family farm operation in an agricultural environment to meet the national standards in safety.
The Farm Stress Line is always available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist you with coping in the high-pressure farming occupation. Farm Stress Line is Toll Free at 1-800-667-4442. In the case of a farming incident, call 911 FIRST.
