| | Harvest is the time when all of the year’s hard work results in the farm’s potential cash flow and profit. Minds start rushing, strategies brew and the clock ticks. Every moment counts in the race against the weather to get the best quality product off the field.
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“Before the rush starts, take a few moments to prepare a safety strategy,” says Kenda Lubeck, farm safety coordinator with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “Be as formal or informal as suits your operation, but make the harvesting team aware of risks and dangers and know how to avoid them.”
Human life is number one on the list of things to preserve during the harvest. Being safe means taking the time and extra steps to ensure that you and all of your harvest team will be coming home for supper.
“It is vital that the work team communicates,” says Lubeck. “Know where each person will be, how long a task or job should take. Be sure that all of the team members can contact each other if need be. Prearrange how long each team member will wait to start the search if someone doesn’t show up.”
It is also important to have a common non-verbal language. When working around equipment, the noise and dust make verbal communication impossible at times. Agree ahead of time on what different hand signals mean. To learn universal hand signals, go to www.agriculture.alberta.ca/farmsafety. Be like pilots and ground crew – make the language universal. Use signals that visiting and helpful neighbours will understand as well. The last thing you need is for someone to be working on equipment when another person starts using it.
“It may sound like a no-brainer, but it’s important to realize how far you can push yourself and when it’s time to back off,” says Lubeck. “If you keep pushing, it’s only a matter of time until you make a mistake. Drink hydrating fluids, stay away from alcohol, eat healthy meals at regular intervals, take breaks to clear your mind and get some quality sleep. It’s easier said than done because farmers need to ‘get while the gettin’s good,’ but there’s no gettin’ after an injury.”
Harvest safety also includes maintaining the safety features on the equipment. Sometimes guards and shields can slow you down, but they do serve a purpose: they guard and shield you from danger. Time spent before harvest to get equipment running smoothly will decrease the chances of equipment failure. Fewer breakdowns equal less stress and frustration.
When you do find yourself fixing equipment, take all of the necessary precautions. Make sure all machinery is shut off, the brakes are on and you have the key in your pocket before you crawl under, stick your hand into, straddle, climb into or begin working on equipment.
The one characteristic all farmers share is the ability to accept risks. Decide carefully when a risk is worth taking. A risk that could damage a person, such as stepping over a power take-off rather than walking around the equipment, is a risk that comes at too high a personal cost.
“Safety takes planning. Being safety conscious should be part of every farm work strategy, just like budgeting,” says Lubeck. “Some safety procedures are a concerted effort such as driving safely – and some just go hand-in-hand with every day life and are seamless such as putting on a seat belt. The bottom line is that safety should always be intentional. When it comes to safety, the whole team and the whole family need to think it and do it.”
Contact:
Kenda Lubeck
780-538-5606 |
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