16
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2019
Growers are responsible for workers’ safety Poultry producers learn to breathe easy in dangerous situations
by DAVID SCHMIDT
ABBOTSFORD – The BC Occupational Health & Safety Regulation requires all employers, including farmers and ranchers, to protect their workers.
During the 2014 avian influenza outbreak in the Fraser Valley, WorkSafeBC wanted infected farms to be compliant with those requirements but “we weren’t as prepared as we should have been,” AgSafe BC Lower Mainland safety advisor Tadhg O’Leary told BC Chicken Growers Association members at their regular meeting in Abbotsford, January 30. Employers need to ensure
their workers are aware of the risks AI poses. When there is an outbreak, they must notify them of the level of infection, he said. They also need to provide the right type of personal protective equipment, including approved respirators. O’Leary brought a variety
of respirators to the meeting, everything from a simple
make sure it actually does what it’s supposed to,” O’Leary said.
He demonstrated what that
entails, using BCCGA president Dale Krahn as his guinea pig.
Although fairly
straightforward, using a respirator does require a bit of skill and some specialized equipment. Growers can learn to do their own fit-testing using the training documents on the AgSafe BC website or ask AgSafe BC staff to come out to the farm and do the fit- testing for them. “Our service is free as you
already pay for AgSafe BC through WorkSafeBC,” O’Leary says.
Take a deep breath! BC Chicken Growers Association president Dale Krahn gets his respirator fit-tested during the BCCGA meeting in Abbotsford, January 30. DAVID SCHMIDT PHOTO
disposable unit to a combo unit with both chemical and particle filters. He stressed that it is not enough to just have respirators on hand but that the
respirators need to be “fit-tested” on each employee at least once a year and be able to prove it. “You need to do a negative pressure check to
While his presentation was aimed specifically at chicken growers, O’Leary stressed the requirements apply to poultry-catching crews and anyone else working in confined spaces with a potential risk of exposure to dust, dander and/or noxious gases. In a related matter, Krahn
urged all growers to get a flu shot.
“If AI breaks out on your farm and you aren’t
already on the farm, you won’t get near it,” he told them.
An effective health and safety plan involves everyone.
The planning decisions you make today can affect the health and safety of workers tomorrow.
Find resources to prevent injuries at
worksafebc.com/agriculture
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
