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| Chemical Safety for those on the Farm |
Advertisers and story books portray farm life as peaceful, serene, slow-paced and safe. However, things are not quite as rosy as they seem.
On the farm, accidents kill approximately 1,000 farm workers each year, and cause around 120,000 disabling injuries.
Experts and statistics agree that farm tractor roll-overs are the biggest reason for deaths and injuries on the farm, but second is the danger from exposure to farm chemicals, including pesticides, toxic gases from grain bins, silos and manure pits, and anhydrous ammonia, a common source of nitrogen fertilizer.
March 13 to 19 is Agricultural Safety Week in Canada, followed by National Poison Prevention Week March 20 to 26 in the United States, making this a good time to consider chemical safety on the farm.
Exposure to farm chemicals usually occurs when;
- drift of pesticide spray is excessive.
- equipment leaks are not corrected immediately.
- improper or inadequate PPE is used.
- farm machinery decontamination procedures are not adequate.
The most common fatal mistake involving farm chemicals is storing them in unmarked containers that workers think are food or drink receptacles.
You don’t need to be working on a farm or even in an industrial setting to be harmed by chemicals. Potentially dangerous chemicals are found in many workplaces and homes. Safety Smart’s chemical safety category has hundreds of materials you can use to share chemical safety information with your workers, including eLearning courses, articles, Safety Talks, puzzles, clip art, fatality reports and these seven chemical safety training mistakes to avoid.
Want to Try SafetySmart Online? Request a Free Demo
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| This worker in Italy is putting a lot of trust in the operator of this digger as he works from its bucket many feet above a pile of rocks. If the operator accidentally knocked one of the controls, the worker would soon be on that pile of rocks with serious or fatal injuries. (Naval Safety Center) |
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| Court Says Worker’s Death Warrants Criminal Charges |
In 2004, a sawmill worker was killed while working on a jammed machine. The police recommended criminal charges against the company. WorkSafeBC fined the company $297,000 for the incident.
Read more on this issue as well as related articles at OHSInsider.com.
(note: subscription is required; to get instant access, simply sign up for a No-Cost Trial of OHSInsider.com. Sign up now and you will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Tim’s gift card.)
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| Grain Bin Deaths Occurring in Record Numbers |
Fifty-one men and boys across the US became engulfed in grain bins in 2010, with 26 victims dying as a result, according to the Chicago Tribune.
That’s the most grain bin engulfment deaths ever recorded in a single year. Illinois had the most deaths—five in 10 incidents.
It takes less than 10 seconds for a man to sink up to his chest in flowing corn. Ten seconds after that he’ll completely enveloped by corn and unable to breathe.
Incidents typically involve someone entering a bin to break up clumps of moist, decomposing grains. Sometimes, machinery that keeps corn flowing can cause a sinkhole to develop, pulling down anyone who gets close.
Other incidents involve sudden “avalanches” of corn caked on the sides of bins. And still others involve workers who mistakenly think it’s safe to walk across the top of corn and soon discover otherwise. |
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