Agricultural Safety Week is right around the corner (March 11-17, 2009). So it’s the perfect time to take a closer look at farm safety. Farming has always been dangerous work. Farm workers frequently suffer serious work-related injuries and illnesses—and fatalities are all too common. According to a report from the Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program (CAISP), agriculture is the third most hazardous occupation in Canada, behind only mining and logging. And in terms of fatalities, it’s first on the list. For example, three workers at a BC mushroom farm died last September in a confined space incident.

Mercury—or “liquid silver”—is a metal that’s used in products such as thermometers, dental fillings, electrical and vehicle switches and fluorescent light bulbs. It can also be emitted into the environment through various industrial processes used to create other products. The bad news is that mercury is highly toxic to the environment and to human health. And scientists believe that more than half of the mercury in the environment today is from human activities. For example, Canadian industrial emissions of mercury in 2000 are estimated to have been eight tonnes.

CSA Z1000-06 What You Must Know About Canada’s Standard for Occupational Health & Safety Management Presented By: Wayne Pardy

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are substances used in a wide range of applications, including hydraulic fluids, dye solvents, paints, plasticizers and especially in electrical equipment, such as transformers, capacitors and ballasts. While PCBs are extremely useful, they also pose a threat to the environment and human health. Canada banned the import, manufacture and sale of PCBs in 1977 and the release of PCBs into the environment in 1985. Federal law also regulates the storage, handling, transportation and destruction of PCBs. But until now, nothing has prevented individuals and businesses from continuing to use equipment containing PCBs until the end of the equipment’s service life, which can be up to 50 years. And such use interferes with the federal government’s goal of completely eliminating the presence of PCBs in Canada.

The Insider’s recent two-part series on WHMIS training, (Vol. 4, Issues 8 & 9) explained the different training requirements across Canada for hazardous substances and for “controlled products” under the OHS laws. We also told you about the six categories that determine whether a worker needs hazardous substance training and/or WHMIS training. These categories covered a lot of ground. So to simplify things for you, we’ve pulled the information about the six categories together into a chart that you can use to determine which of your workers, if any, require WHMIS training and, if so, what kind of training they require.