The Huron Expositor, 1995-03-15, Page 81"0,p, i i./i.�i�i�/i./i���/i �i��i.ii.4.0.i.',/i./i./i 4.00./0f/i 4 o. o.
/1.
Farni Progress '9b' -Page 23A
Indoor use of gas pressure
washer could prove fatal
Many farmers rely on gasoline -
powered pressure washers for
routiqe barn clean-up. Often, these
machines are housed and operated
indoors, to avoid winter freeze-up
of the pump and lines.
Indoor use of gas -powered
washers puts lives at risk! All
gasoline -powered engines produce
carbon monoxide. This gas can
build up rapidly in any indoor area,
and individuals can be overcome
without even realizing they are
being exposed.
Carbon monoxide strikes quickly,
and without warning. The gas is
colorless, odorless, tasteless, and
provides no sign of its presence.
Confusion, headache, dizziness,
fatigue, and weakness may set in
too quickly for victims to save
themselves.
Once inhaled, carbon monoxide
decreases the ability of the blood to
carry oxygen to the brain and other
vital organs. Poisoning by this gas
can cause permanent brain damage,
including changes in personality
and memory. Even low levels of
carbon monoxide can set off chest
pains and heart attacks in people
with coronary artery disease.
The U.S. National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) recently published an alert
concerning the deadly carbon
monoxide hazard from using gas -
powered pressure washers indoors.
It documented the case of a 35 -
year -old farmer who died from
carbon monoxide poisoning while
using one of these washers in an
enclosed barn. the publication also
described five incidents in which
farmers were overcome while using
gas -powered washers to clean lives-
tock buildings.
Each of the victims interviewed
by NIOSH expressed shock at how
quickly they were overcome by
carbon monoxide. An Iowa woman
who recently had a narrow escape
from the gas stressed, "1 was
amazed at how it affected my
ability to think clearly and get out."
High capacity pressure washers
are needed in many modern lives-
tock facilities. Farmers must be
aware that the indoor use of gas -
powered washers could be disabling
or fatal! Ideally, the machines
themselves should be placed out-
side, and the hoses brought into the
bam. If this isn't feasible, exhaust
fumes must be completely vented to
the outdoors, and workers should be
provided with carbon monoxide
monitoring devices.
OFVVN gets
green light
for video
OFWN vice president Beverlie
Nelson has been given the go ahead
for a video about the safe use of
pesticides around the homestead.
Nelson has not only written the
proposal but has found full funding
for the video which should prove
helpful not only to fann people but
to everyone who uses pesticides.
Funding has come from the
provincial ministries of energy and
the environment; and agriculture,
food, and rural affairs; as well as
from Agriculture Canada, and the
Ontario Farm Safety Association.
Ridgetown College will begin
filming the video in the spring, with
completion scheduled for 1996.
Receives
highest
honor
awarded by
Holstein
Association
•from page 22A
while to see what it was like to
work off the farm, but it didn't
happen that way."
Now, only seven years after set-
ting up his own operation, Elliott
has been bestowed with the highest
honour awarded by the Holstein
Association of Canada.
"1t felt great when I got the
award. It's an achievement --
something to work for."
Elliott has 90 head of cattle, 40 of
which are dairy, and has sold his
cattle in over 11 countries around
the world.
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