He refused water, or any other liquid, while trying to get the harvest done, figuring it would mean fewer stops to answer the call of nature. But it didn’t end well. He landed in hospital with dehydration complicating other pre-existing health problems.

Agricultural health and safety officials tell the story to make the point about what happens if you push yourself too hard.

It’s an important reminder for those headed to the field in this fall’s soaring temperatures, too.

Farmers need to be extra careful they don’t get dehydrated working in this hot weather, and to know what heat exposure can do to their bodies, said Kendra Ulmer, a registered nurse with the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan.

There is a real risk of getting overheated working in the kinds of temperatures we’re experiencing, and bursts of physical labour combined with the long hours, fatigue can be a dangerous combination when combined with it, the nurse said.

“Definitely hot weather as a whole is looked at as a workplace hazard,” said Ulmer.

That makes hitting those fields without adequate hydration, and intention to stay that way risky business.

Much of Western Canada remained under a heat wave last week, with daytime temperatures last week in the low to mid-30s, and extreme heat building into western Manitoba, the Red River Valley and parts of northeastern Manitoba.

That’s a dry spell for getting a lot of work done fast, of course, and it can happen while still taking good care of yourself, said Ulmer.

And that means drinking lots and lots of water, she stresses. Small amounts consumed frequently — every 15 or 20 minutes — or a cup of water every half-hour is the recommendation.

“Most farmers do carry water with them, but just make sure you’re taking the time to drink it,” she said. “Don’t wait until you’re thirsty.”

She also recommends loading up on liquids the night before or morning of, and that doesn’t mean coffee or tea to keep weary eyes open.

A balanced diet with a lot of leafy greens and fresh fruit and liquids other than sugary drinks, alcohol or caffeinated drinks is going to keep your energy levels up in a way that means less dependence on caffeine, she said.

Ulmer, who speaks regularly to farm groups about health and wellness strategies, also tells farmers that if they aren’t stopping every hour or so for a pit stop, they’re actually not drinking enough liquid.

Of course, the retort she hears to that is ‘not gonna happen,’ but her counter argument is that frequent breaks are good for lots of other reasons. You’ll stretch your legs, have a moment to check the equipment, and movement helps keep you awake and mentally acute, she said.

“This all works together,” she said. “And if you’re drinking better, and eating well and having snacks through the day, you won’t have the headaches and feeling of tiredness from long hours of work.

“It works much better than caffeine, or other stimulants that you might take for the long hours.”

It’s extremely important to recognize that overexposure to heat can also make you seriously ill, she said.

Heat illnesses are related to the body’s inability to cope with heat and can include heat edema, or swelling of hands, feet, and ankles, a heat rash, heat muscle cramps or fainting. Heat stroke is the most severe heat-related illness and is defined as the body temperature higher than 41.1 C or 106 F and associated with neurological dysfunction.

Know the signs of heat stress, says Ulmer. Typically, it starts with a headache, and you may feel increasingly confused or dizzy.

Those are warning signs. Others include very heavy sweating, muscle cramps and changes in your breathing and a rapid pulse rate. These are serious signals of heat illness coming on, and not to be ignored, she said.

“And when you’re feeling too thirsty, chances are you’re way past dehydration,” she said.

Heat cramps usually occur in the most worked muscles, such as an arm or leg and they can come on suddenly. And if you feel nauseous, it’s not because your tailgate lunch didn’t sit well; nausea and vomiting are other signs heat exhaustion is setting in.

“Heat stroke is a progression of heat exhaustion,” said Ulmer. That’s when you’ll feel weak, or confused, upset or start acting strangely. Hot, dry skin or sweating profusely are other red flags. That’s when you call an ambulance, because a heat stroke can kill someone quickly, she said.

Workers should be checking on each other to help spot these kinds of symptoms, she adds.

Her main message to farmers is to stay well by drinking a lot, and eating well, getting as much quality sleep as possible, and keeping covered out in the sunlight to avoid burning.

In other words, that means caring for one’s health and well-being, even when the focus is more likely to be on heat-stressed crops and livestock, and clock and calendar.

“Farmers are notorious for looking after their land, their animals, their employees, their equipment and their finances and the whole picture,” she said.

“It’s really important that they not forget about taking care of themselves too.”

The post Healthy heat appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

GET CAUGHT NAPPING!

Daytime sleepiness usually occurs between 1 p. m. and 4 p. m. Instead of getting caught napping we compensate with caffeine or ignore it. Caffeine is a poor substitute for sleep.

Research at the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic indicates that a well-timed nap during this time can improve performance and alertness for hours afterwards.

– Source: “Sleepless in Saskatchewan”

– Making Sleep Work For You!”

SLEEP ROUTINES FOR THE FARM

A sleep routine will help make the most of the time you have available for sleep;

Make your breaks a priority even when you are in the field;

Try the 20-minute power nap even if you have to do it outside;

Switch tasks you are working on whenever possible;

Stop to eat regularly and drink plenty of water;

Practise sleep rituals so that you can get quality sleep when you do have a chance to sleep.

Just because you’re not asleep, doesn’t mean you’re awake.

And if you’re a sleep-starved farmer, you could be in line for a farm accident.

The Agricultural Health and Safety Network (AHSN) in Saskatoon has just released a new documentary on DVD – “Sleepless in Saskatchewan” – stressing how one of the most ignored parts of life – getting a good sleep – can help improve health and safety on the farm.

But who sleeps when there’s work to do? “Sleep is always on the backburner, the last thing you consider,” says one farmer interviewed in the 42-minute film.

Yet, growing evidence shows we ignore sleep at our peril. Lack of good-quality sleep may be an underlying factor not only for increasing stress, but an underlying cause that leads to injuries and fatalities while at work on the farm.

JUDGMENT AFFECTED

Many studies show sleep deprivation affects judgment, decision-making and memory, slows down reaction times and decreases ability to concentrate. Lack of sleep has also been shown to affect mood, leading to irritability, anxiety and even depression.

Dr. John Reid, a respirologist and sleep specialist at the University of Saskatchewan quoted in the film says the problem for those who don’t get enough sleep is that they don’t necessarily know how it’s affecting them.

Studies comparing the cognitive performance of those staying up all night, with those who’ve had less than six hours sleep over a two-week period, and have built up a sleep deficit, show the two groups both function at the same reduced level, he said.

“But people are far more aware of their deficit after a full night sleep loss,” says Reid. “You tend to get used to partial deficits.”

Daytime sleepiness is the most common effect of poor sleep.

CHEATING ON SLEEP

The farmer who cheats on sleep in order to get all the work done, then has that unnerving experience of forgetting where he is in the field, or hits a slough or ditch, has very likely fallen asleep, Reid said. Farming while sleep deprived can be like farming while drunk.

“The term used is micro-sleep,” says Reid. “Their brain has gone into 15 or 20 seconds of sleep.” (People who sleep poorly and then sit for long periods of time often experience this.)

“Sleepless in Saskatchewan” was put together over three years, and features interviews with farm families talking about their own sleep and stress issues. Sleep specialists and other health professionals talk about the importance of sleep, how to get better-quality sleep, sleep cycles, types of sleep disorders and how behaviour influences sleep are all covered.

Trying to hit the hay straight in from a hectic day, for example, can make it harder to get to sleep, or to stay asleep. Consuming alcohol just before bed, or not taking at least an hour to wind down at day’s end can also contribute to an upset night.

Worry and lack of sleep can be a vicious cycle many farmers experience.

“The busy mind is an incredibly common complaint for people who have insomnia,” says Reid.

LET GO OF WORRY

He advises patients who complain they can’t sleep for worrying to take about an hour at the end of the day to very deliberately let go of the worries of the day.

“You have to say to yourself ‘the day is now done and I’m not dealing anymore with the day’s troubles… I’ll pick them up in the morning.’”

He also tells patients who have ongoing problems getting to sleep to get up if, after 20 minutes, they still haven’t fallen asleep. Go do something relaxing and enjoyable until you’re feeling sleepy, says Reid. It will help break the mind’s habit of switching on when the lights go off.

“It can break that association where someone lies in bed frustrated all the time.

Napping is highly recommended too, says Jon Shearer, another sleep specialist and speaker in the film puts it. But unfortunately, “napping is one of the fine arts we have lost in this culture.”

NAPPING IS GOOD

Yet, a mid-day nap of about 20 minutes can be exceedingly restorative, improving performance and cognition for hours afterward.

“Sleep definitely affects your health and safety,” says Kendra Ulmer, a registered nurse with the AHSN. “Getting a proper sleep is vital to a person’s wellbeing. We looked at putting together something that would be a resource to encourage getting better-quality sleep.”

The three-disc DVD and guidebook resource package is available for borrowing through all rural municipal offices in Saskatchewan, or can be directly purchased ($20) by contacting:

Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture -CCHSA,

Royal University Hospital, Room 3608, Wing 3E, 103 Hospital Drive,

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W8, Telephone: (306) 966-8286 Facsimile: (306) 966-8799

Email: canadian.centre@usask.ca

For more information log on to: www.cchsa-ccssma.usask.ca/ahsn/index.php.

The post New documentary “Sleepless in Saskatchewan” underscores the benefits of quality sleep for improving safety and health on the farm appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Then a devastating incident changed everything on their MacGregor, Manitoba potato farm. The young daughter of one of the farm’s workers lost her hand and forearm to a potato seed cutting table. She was “helping” her father at the time. The manufacturer’s safety guards were in the right place. But the little girl’s curiosity led her too far.

A tragic lesson was learned; she should never have been anywhere near the equipment.

The investigation that followed spawned a heartfelt commitment to safety on the Wiebe farm.

Sheldon signed on for the “Safe Farms Check Program,” one of about 60 Manitoba farmers who helped pilot the program and develop a guide in 2007.

The Safe Farms Check Program guide is now available online as a resource for all farmers to develop and implement a safe farm plan customized to their own farm.

PLAN FARM SAFETY

Manitoba’s Safe Farms Check Program is of many resources farm safety officials across Canada are flagging during Canadian Agricultural Safety Week as they encourage more farmers to deliberately plan for safety.

Plan Farm Safety is the 2010 theme selected for a three-year campaign launched March 14. This year, the campaign will promote the “plan” aspect, emphasizing deliberate planning to create a safer work environment on the farm.

What does it mean to plan for safety?

It means stepping back and taking an objective look at how the job is done, to see where you put yourself and others’ risk on the farm, says provincial farm safety co-ordinator Glen Blahey in Manitoba.

“Planning for safety is anticipating what the consequences might be if something goes wrong,” he said. And that goes beyond just noting hazards in a safety audit, or a farm walkabout, and making mental notes to be more careful.

A safety plan is an assessment of risks and a plan of action to reduce those risks, Blahey said.

The Safe Farms Check Program was developed so no farmer need start from scratch to do this.

“The Safe Farms Check Program is really a recipe book, that any producer can take, start filling in the blanks and develop a plan particular to their operation,” Blahey said.

In Alberta, farm safety specialists steer producers to A Farm Employer’s Guide to Job Orientation and Safety Training, with a one-page checklist, a CD (or DVD) titled “Farm Safety – It’s no Accident,” and more than two dozen fact sheets for downloading off the Farm Safety Centre website or requesting from their offices.

Put these resources together, and you’ve got your safety plan in place, says Leduc-based farm safety co-ordinator Laurel Aitken with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.

What isn’t known is how many farmers have actually done so to date.

“I talk to farmers who have every level of safety planning,” Aitken said. Large farms have safety and health plans implemented by their own safety staff.

But on smaller, family-owned farms, planning for safety is more likely about having a conversation about safety, says Aitken.

“And they may not even be calling it a plan,” Aitken said. “It’s verbal, but nothing formal. I suspect on quite a few farms that’s the way it’s done.”

Farm safety specialists can only provide resources to stimulate those conversations and help plans get started, she added.

INJURIES

This is what the annual Canadian Agricultural Safety Week is all about, says Marcel Hacault, executive director of CASA based out of Winnipeg.

“Some producers feel that developing a farm safety program will create overwhelming paperwork – but that is not so,” Hacault said.

“The idea behind the theme “Plan Farm Safety” is to offer a time period in where farmers and ranchers can work with our campaign to go through the steps necessary to establish a practical farm safety program.”

CASW’s theme is strongly endorsed by farm organizations like Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) in Manitoba.

“We’re very supportive of this initiative,” said Doug Chorney, a Manitoba farmer and KAP vice-president.

header photos courtesy of canadian agricultural safety association

“KAP members are injured and killed far too often because of farm safety challenges. And it’s a problem right across Canada. When you look at the statistics, it’s shocking, actually, how dangerous farming is.”

About eight people die traumatically as a direct result of farm work every year in Manitoba. On average, 125 people are hospitalized because of farm work injuries. It is estimated an additional 5,000 or more seek medical aid on work-related injuries and illnesses.

Across the country, as many as 115 people are killed annually, and at least 1,500 are hospitalized for farm-related incidents according to the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting program (CAIR). In 2006, 13,801 Canadian farms reported one or more medically treated or lost time injuries, reports Statistics Canada.

Research done for CASA shows the cost of a farm injury can range

“Planning for safety is anticipating what the consequences might be if something goes wrong.”

from $700 for a non-hospitalized injury, to tens of thousands of dollars for a permanent disability or a death.

Several incentive-based safe farm programs are now being piloted across Canada, including Manitoba’s Safe Farms Check Program, plus others in Saskatchewan, Quebec and B. C. The Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture (CCHSA) based out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan has proposed a Canada-wide study into how financial incentives might actually help reduce the current unacceptable death and injury rates in agriculture.

NEW REALITY

On their farm, safety has become not just something done, but a way of thinking, says Sheldon Wiebe, who met with his farm staff to hear their ideas for make changes to improve safety after his involvement with the Safe Farms Check Program.

Today the Wiebes’ potato farm has a written safety plan used throughout the entire farm enterprise.

“You can’t control everything in agriculture so you should control all the things you can – and that starts with your own behaviour and the safety choices you make as you do your work, ” says Sheldon.

“Safety requires more paperwork, but once you develop a plan – it is not so bad,” says Wiebe. “A lot of the things we were doing anyway – we just document them now. The safety plan gives us a safer food product and a better place to work. This is the new reality for farming and there is more to come.”

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) deliver Canadian Farm Safety Week in partnership with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

The post Deliberate Planning Can Create Safer Farm Work Environment appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Co-operators is a key long-standing example of farmers working for farmers.

Canadian farmers have long understood the importance of banding together. In this current economic climate, the need for farmers to work together is especially important. Farmers have a long history of interacting with co-operative organizations such as The Co-operators. Intrinsically linked to the agricultural sector since its inception, The Co-operators is a key long-standing example of farmers working for farmers.

Formed in 1945 when a group of wheat farmers in Saskatchewan banded together to form an insurance co-operative when they otherwise could not get the coverage they needed, The Co-operators still has 17 agricultural organizations out of 46 member-owners. The Co-operators continues to support agriculture through a variety of donations and grants related to agriculture-related co-operatives, education or research.

The Co-operators maintains strong links to agriculture, not only through programs with member-owners (and their members) but also in its governance structure. Its approach to governance is one of open involvement, where the membership (co-operatives are owned by their members, or “member-owners”) actively shapes its strategic direction. The Co-operators is 100 per cent Canadian owned by 46 member-owners. Apart from the 17 agricultural organizations, the remaining members represent the financial, service, retail/consumer, health and labour sectors.

MEMBER-OWNERS

The member-owners appoint 117 delegates to seven regional committees, who then elect the 22-member board of directors. This structure creates very effective channels of communication between The Co-operators, farmers and other member-owners who are all represented in the regional committees.

Among the member-owners of The Co-operators are advocacy groups for farmers, including the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Keystone Agriculture Producers, and Wild Rose Agricultural Producers. Producer-supplier members include: Viterra, Agrifoods International Co-operative,

(British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan), Gay Lea Foods, (Ontario), and Lilydale Co-operative Limited (Ontario), among others.

In general, The Co-operators contributes to and supports the co-operative sector, including agriculture, through: the member loyalty program, through which members share in The Co-operators’ success through member loyalty payments when the organization performs well; the development of customized services and products; support for co-operatives, including the Co-operative Development Program, which funds small, emerging co-ops; advocacy for the co-operative sector, including agriculture; and active support/ participation in provincial, national and international co-operative associations. Customized products and services are developed to add additional value to the members of our member-owners’ (MOMO) offerings. The Member Benefits Program is a special insurance program that includes enhanced farm coverage endorsement, travel benefits and group benefits – added value for members of MOMOs.

MUTUAL BENEFIT

Because co-operatives are based on the principle of mutual benefit, The Co-operators’ profits from its member-owners’ business. However, it also gives back to them during profitable years. The Co-operators Foundation provides grants to agriculture through the Corporate Giving Program. From 1986 to 2010, a total of $346,667 has been invested in the University of Manitoba’s Agricultural Chair in Co-operatives, University of Alberta’s Co-operative Chair in Agricultural Marketing and Business, and the University of Saskatchewan’s Centre for Agricultural Medicine and Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture.

The Co-operators Foundation also grants in support of agriculture through the Co-operative Development Program. Grants have been directed to The Bay Growers’ Co-operative (Ont.) and Quinte Organic Farmers Co-operative (Picton, Ont.) whi le agr icul ture-related investments, through the Co-operative Development Program, have been made to the Oxford Farmers’ Co-operative (Murikirk, Ont.), Farm Fresh Poultry Co-operative (Harriston, Ont.), and the Mornington Heritage Cheese and Dairy Co-operative (Gods Hill Station, Ont.).

Garnet Etsell is second vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

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