Farmers wanting to air concerns about possible safety hazards on new equipment now have another channel to move those issues forward.
The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) last week launched its “Speak Up For Safer Equipment” tool, an online form farmers can use to report safety concerns with farm equipment manufactured in the past five years.
Once a farmer posts his or her concerns via the online form, CASA will review the safety concern and either will forward the issue either directly to the manufacturer or, if the concern is a “universal issue,” to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
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Information gathered through the online tool is expected to not only inform manufacturers and the CSA but to give CASA data on potential safety-related trends affecting farmers, the Winnipeg-based association said.
“We decided to develop this online tool after routinely receiving calls from producers who were frustrated that their concerns weren’t being heard,” Glen Blahey, CASA’s agricultural health and safety specialist, said in a release.
CASA noted the service is meant to help with safety concerns where farm equipment is being used for “primary agricultural production.”
More specifically, it’s not meant to handle cases where legal proceedings are involved, nor where there are labour relations concerns or issues related to financial transactions, CASA said.
“The tool isn’t designed to hurt the reputation of any manufacturer or individual,” Blahey said, but rather to “foster better communication and education between farmers, manufacturers and standards organizations and will ultimately reduce the potential for injuries.”
CASA will also offer the service by phone at 1-877-452-2272. — AGCanada.com Network
