Calling all farmers! Canada celebrates Agricultural Safety Week

By Shazia Nazir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Milton Reporter

Organizers of the first Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW) under the banner “Your Farm, Your Family, Your Success”, are calling all farmers, ranchers, hired hands and others involved in agriculture to create farm safety plans and to talk about and value safety.

March 13 to 19 marks the Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, in order to raise awareness about the importance of farm safety and the health and well-being of agricultural producers and workers in the country.

This year, organizers are focusing on not just practical safety advice and awareness but also the reasons why safety is essential for all farming operations. The aim is implement farm safety plans, talk about farm safety, and value #FarmSafetyEveryday.

CASA’s Chief Executive Officer Andrea Lear says farm safety is not just about knowing what hazards exist. “Farm Safety is also about changing unsafe behaviours and habits, understanding the positive business case for incorporating safety on farming operations and addressing what it truly means to value safety and health.”

This year, Lear added, CASA is excited to host conversations about making meaningful and long-lasting change for the health and safety of everyone that lives, works, and visits farms and ranches.

Charan Singh, a small farm owner in Milton, backed the idea of celebrating the week each year to take care and keep everyone safe on the farm.

“Our line of work involves a variety of workplace hazards, so we all need to follow solid safety practices each and every day to reduce risk to our family members and employees,” he says.

The Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW) takes place every year during the third week of March.