Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has announced that it is offering $375,000 to fund a new grain-safety initiative by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA). Aimed at the country’s agriculture sector, the Grain Safety Program is intended to raise public awareness of the hazards of working with grain storage.

Announced by the federal government and CASA on March 14, to coincide with Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, the multifaceted program will consist of a mobile grain-safety demonstration and training unit, an interactive display for trade shows, onsite emergency training for grain producers and rescue training for volunteer first responders.

“The issue of grain entrapment is certainly an issue of going concern throughout Canada,” explained Glen Blahey, CASA’s agricultural health and safety specialist, “and the frequency of grain-entrapment incidents in primary agricultural operations appears to be rising. In part, that’s predicated by the larger volumes of grain that are stored and the rates at which that grain is handled.”

The demonstration unit, which is currently under construction, will be a small scale-model grain-handling operation on a trailer that travels around to worksites, added Blahey.

“We’ll have about 120 bushels of grain in that grain-handling system,” he said, “and we’ll be able to, for demonstration purposes, engulf a mannequin in about seven to ten seconds to demonstrate to the general farming population how quickly it happens.” The unit will also demonstrate how much force that much grain exerts on a trapped individual, making it difficult to pull the person out.

The mobile unit will also provide training for emergency first responders and agricultural producers on how to develop emergency-response plans for grain entrapment. “There are not a lot of emergency responders in rural Canada who are trained on grain extrication,” continued Blahey, “and it is a fairly specialized field of work to conduct those kinds of rescues.

“So we want to make sure that, should an incident occur, the emergency-response teams are adequately trained and equipped to respond in a safe manner.”

The interactive display will aim to bring information and resources to farming trade shows, initially in the western provinces, but also to the rest of Canada within the next few years.

“We are working with industry to help Canada’s agriculture sector be more innovative, safer and stronger,” MaryAnn Mihychuk, Member of Parliament for Kildonan-St. Paul, Man., said in a press statement about the program. “Increased awareness [and] training for farmers and grain workers will help reduce grain-related injuries and fatalities.”

The program follows an incident in which three sisters, aged 11 to 13, became trapped in a dense pile of canola seeds and suffocated in a grain truck in Withrow, Alta. in Oct. 2015. Although this initiative will target grain workers of all ages, it will include tabletop youth displays for children from eight to 12 years old.

“Certainly, we want to make sure that the young farmers and the youth that are involved in agricultural operations are aware of and learn practices correctly, as opposed to having to unlearn and relearn subsequently,” said Blahey. “So we want to influence the culture of learning at the young-farmer level in a positive way.”

An average of 84 people die in farming-related incidents per year across Canada, according to information from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

A 25-year-old construction worker died in an incident at a highway worksite near the village of Eyebrow, Sask. on Feb. 13.

Details about what happened have been minimal, but the victim has been identified as Jesse Michael Hoehn, who lived in the town of Davidson.

A brief press release from the RCMP’s Moose Jaw detachment stated that police were notified of the accident at about 1:30 p.m. that day. Officers were immediately dispatched to the worksite on Highway 42, between Eyebrow and Keeler.

The victim, the release said, “died as a result of injuries sustained in the workplace incident. Occupational health and safety personnel and Moose Jaw RCMP continue to investigate.”

Jennifer Veri, a communications consultant with the provincial Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, confirmed to COHSN that oh&s authorities were reviewing the incident, but could not say anything specific about it.

“What we can confirm is that a worker did die in a workplace incident on Highway 42,” said Veri.

Local media reports have stated that Hoehn was operating a loader and helping to stockpile gravel at the time of the incident. He had reportedly been working for his current employer for about a year.

Hoehn was a graduate of Davidson High School, according to his Facebook page. His online obituary stated that he left behind his parents, a sister, a brother-in-law and twin nephews.

A funeral for Hoehn is scheduled for Feb. 18 at 2 p.m., at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Davidson. In Hoehn’s memory, the town is accepting donations to Threads of Life, a nationwide charity organization that assists families of victims of workplace fatalities.

Davidson is located roughly halfway between Regina and Saskatoon. Eyebrow is about 84 kilometres northwest of Moose Jaw.

TORONTO, Ont. — Parachute, a Toronto-based national charity helping Canadians keep preventable injuries at bay, has launched a province-wide social-media campaign to educate youth about workplace safety. As many students take on summer jobs during this time of the year, #Safe4Life offers a virtual space where youth can ask questions and discuss their experiences with workplace safety. According to a statement from the organization issued on June 21, new and young workers in the province are three times more likely to be injured. A poll, which includes 500 young workers, finds that nearly half of them aged 16 to 19 admit they would be embarrassed to ask about workplace safety hazards, and nearly one quarter of young people say they do not understand worker rights. More than half of young people who currently work, or have worked before say they were not given safety equipment. Among those who were properly equipped, only 35 per cent use it most of the time. “Every day in Ontario, an average of 20 workers under the age of 25 sustain lost-time injuries or are, unfortunately, killed on the job. New workers are more likely to be injured and less likely to question safety practices in their workplaces,” said Louise Logan, president and chief executive officer of Parachute. “We want to change the conversation and encourage young workers to stay #Safe4Life.”