Farm Safety

The winter months may seem slower in the agricultural community, with both fields and producers awaiting the arrival of spring.

However, the reality is slightly different. Potato warehouses continue to maintain a full schedule. Producers use the opportunity to do routine maintenance on their equipment and train staff, so they can hit the ground running when planting time arrives.

The Federation is developing education materials in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and the Highway Safety Division of the Department of Transportation. The effort is designed to raise awareness in the farm community of safety regulations in the Highway Traffic Act that apply to Agriculture equipment. Particular emphasis will be placed on practices where enforcement agencies have identified issues of non-compliance.

An awareness campaign is being planned to coincide with spring planting that will include advertisements and articles in various media and displays at as many agricultural related venues as possible. Audio/visual material will be made available to various commodity organizations for their use. As well, there will be a web page specific to Farm Safety incorporated into the existing PEI Federation of Agriculture site.

The Canadian Agriculture Safety Association is finalizing plans for its annual launch of Canadian Agriculture Safety Week, which will take place in Manitoba for Western Canada and here on P.E.I. for Eastern Canada. The venue chosen for the Island initiative is Koolbreeze Farms in Travellers Rest on March 8th. The actual dates of the CASW are March 15th – 19th and producers are encouraged to utilize the opportunity to update their operations and staff on safe farm practices.

If anyone has interest in setting up training for any of the following they are asked to contact Tim Seeber at the Federation office at 368-7289 or by email at seebertw@eastlink.ca.

Tractor Safety Training: Depending on demand this can be scheduled for March Break
Fork Lift Training: This training is done on-site and requires a minimum of 4 people
First Aid Training: Available as sufficient interest dictates.