Cover Story Sidebar 2: Lack of machine guards leads to accidents

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Wayne De L'Orme, co-ordinator of the Ontario Ministry of Labour's industrial program, says that two trends are emerging from statistics concerning on-farm health and safety violations.

Farms with employees have been required to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act since June 30, 2006. De L'Orme says that statistics collected during the first 14 months since the Act has been in effect show that most accidents are taking place in southwestern Ontario, where most farms are and involve either people coming into contact with machines or falls.

It's what he expected from previous surveys and statistics about the most common injuries.

Another trend he sees is a lack of machine guards leading to accidents. "Farmers are great tinkerers," he says, noting that sometimes a guard is taken off to facilitate a repair or an improvement but is not replaced. In other cases, the equipment never came with a guard, especially if it was older equipment.

The trend isn't unique to farming, he says, pointing out that, in a factory, ministry inspectors are also likely to see a lack of guards. But he reminds farmers "to consider the safety aspect." BF