Spring has sprung. April showers bring May flowers and the start of the growing season, which can be an especially stressful time of year. There are a lot of stressors on the farm: financial stress, animal welfare, threats to supply management, workload, public scrutiny and lack of control over the weather.

Identifying risks on the farm is a great first step in developing a health and safety plan. The best way to do this is to complete a job hazard analysis.

One of the most important parts, and your first step, to starting a health and safety plan for your farm is to see where you excel and where your farm needs some TLC when it comes to safety. You need to perform a “safety audit” on your farm.

Part of building a safe workplace is formulating a health and safety plan. A plan should be comprehensive and well laid out. It should protect you and your workers from harm and should aid you if the Ministry of Labour comes to audit your facility.

A farm is great place to raise a family with progressive technology, business practices and the opportunity to develop and pass on the farm to future generations. A farm is also a workplace.A workplace with heavy equipment that is bigger and faster, livestock, high voltage that fuels the farm, exposed mechanics, confined spaces such as silos, chemicals and endless other possible hazards.

It is no question that agriculture is one of the most important industries in Canada. One thing that we tend to forget is how dangerous farming can be, and in return how expensive the cost of an injury or fatality can be.