The Rural Voice, 2000-03, Page 20emergency. Do you have first aid
kits? Do family members and
employees know how to call for
help? etc.
The safety of the farmyard,
fields, lanes and drives comes
under scrutiny from having
gates wide enough for equipment and
having enough turning room on lanes
to locating underground gas or
power lines and having safe places
for children to play away from
danger.
There's a Workplace Hazardous
Materials Information Systems
(WHIMIS) section which Gowland
says is very indepth for a small
operation like his where he handles
all the farm chemicals himself, but
would be important for a farm with
employees involved in this part of the
job. It would be important for
workers to know where all the
reading material was for treatment in
case of a chemical accident.
There's also a section on safe
pesticide storage and handling.
A checklist for electrical safety
points out the dangers of overhead
wires, underground services and
other potential hazards. The fire
prevention section tries to help head
off losses due to fire.
Brief checklists deal with
livestock handling facilities and
ladder safety and materials handling
and there's even a section for
hatchery operators.
For each item on each of the 17
checklists there's a place to identify
whether you have that problem or
not, to decide on the priority for
action, determine what action is
required, set a target date for
completing the action and estimate
the cost of the safety upgrades.
The cost need not be a major item,
Jim Gowland says. On their farm,
where most of the equipment is
relatively new and in good shape, the
biggest cost is likely to be getting
some permanent safety chains for
some equipment that is missing it.
The cost could run to $200-$300, he
estimates, a small investment for
safety of your family members.
That's one of the things leaders of
his 4-H club try to emphasize, he
says. A farm injury or death takes a
toll not just on the victim. All family
members suffer. Obviously there can
be economic consequences if a
18 THE RURAL VOICE
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