FARM SAFETY BILL, PART 2
The stallion has been gelded: Thomson
New Alberta farm health and safety rules released Wednesday mean agricultural workers will be able to go to the bathroom in fields and drive equipment without wearing a seatbelt.
The technical regulations, which take effect Dec. 1, are among more than a dozen measures aimed at increasing protection for farm workers being introduced under the recently updated Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The rules will apply to about 4,200 of Alberta’s 40,000 farms which employ approximately 14,000 people.
They were devised after almost two years of consultation with agricultural groups following an outpouring of outrage at Bill 6, which extended occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation coverage to paid non-family farm employees.
Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier admitted there was lots of “angst” about the bill, but said similar rules already exist in other provinces.
“Two years we have taken to make sure we get this right, the consultation process … right across Alberta,” he told a news conference.
“There was a huge opportunity for people to have input, and I think that has gone a long way to, obviously, get where we are today.”
The chairman of AgCoalition, made up of organizations representing 97 per cent of the province’s primary agriculture producers, said there was anger because originally no one knew what the bill contained.
“Perhaps there could have been more consultation first,” Albert Kamps said.
“Consultation is the cornerstone of democracy and keeping people happy. We have done intensive consultations since the bill has come in.”
Farmers generally meet or exceed most of the new regulations, he said.
“I think we have come to a lot of compromise to convert some very complex regulations into common-sense rules.”
Labour Minister Christina Gray said the regulations, dealing with such areas as the use of cranes and lifts, fall protection, noise exposure and operating powered mobile equipment, were tailored to the unique needs of the agriculture industry.
“(We) put forward commonsense recommendations that will improve the safety for workers … but still respect the unique way of life on farms and ranches.” The provisions include:
Old equipment missing specifications
■ or manuals can still be used — a competent person such as the owner, rather than a professional engineer, may provide written specifications about the equipment’s limitations and modifications.
Exemption from the requirement
■ on all other industries to provide toilets, if access isn’t reasonable, although employers must furnish sanitary and hygiene supplies.
Workers only need to wear seatbelts
■ when it’s reasonable and practical, and can otherwise take other reasonable precautions such as driving slowly in a field. Seatbelts are required to operate powered mobile equipment in other industries.
While all other industries must
■
ensure work sites and equipment keep continuous noise levels below 85 decibels, on farms this won’t apply to renovations, repairs or equipment introduced before Dec. 1. However, hearing protection must be supplied.
The AgCoalition has created AgSafe Alberta, a health and safety association that will develop programs and other information about the new rules.
The province will also introduce a three-year, $6-million program this fall to provide farmers with grants of up to $10,000 to help them improve safety.