Rosebud farmers view Bill 6 differently, but share value of farm safety

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Rosebud farmers value the safety of farm workers and families, though they may not agree whether Alberta’s current Bill 6 is the best means to ensure that safety.
“There was a 10-year-old boy killed in a forklift rollover just last year,” said Peter Lauridsen, in his 30th year of farming near Rosebud. “Without legislation, the government couldn’t even send somebody in there to investigate. If you can investigate accidents that occur on a farm, at least there’s the opportunity to look for ways to avoid them in the future.”
Ray Schultz, who farms with his son and son-in-law between Rosebud and Standard, mentioned another 2015 farming fatality.
“The whole thing (Bill 6) was brought about because of the farmer who had (three) daughters who were killed,” he said.
The 13-year-old and 11-year-old twins were playing in a three-tonne truck and got buried by canola seeds.
“Nothing was ever said about this whole thing. So, us having all these little grandchildren being seven and under, you wonder,” Schultz said. “What happened?”
The statistics support Lauridsen’s and Schultz’s concerns. 331 people, including 63 children, died in Alberta farm-related deaths between 1997 and 2014, according to Farm Safety Centre’s website. In 2015, at least five Alberta children were killed in farm accidents.
That’s one reason Lauridsen feels Bill 6 is long overdue. During harvest, he drives combine for a neighbor who “runs a top-notch operation, safety first,” but he said not all employers are so conscientious.
“Although the legislation may be flawed or may require some additional tweaking,” he said. “I think it’s important that we get something on the books as soon as possible.”
He realizes that large farms are more affected by the bill than his small farm is.
“I do empathize with the people who do employ others and for whom some of this is going to be a hassle, and possibly an additional cost,” he said.
Schultz’s farm hires extra staff during harvest, and he appreciates the potential benefit of the workers’ compensation the bill requires.
Yet his son Jay Schultz said even the WCB aspect may not be best for farm workers, since many already carry cheaper insurance with broader coverage. But his greater concern is that the bill became law before it was complete.
“We don’t really know what’s going to be in this bill, or what the regulations are going to be,” he said.
For instance, “If OH and S (Occupational Health & Safety) is there for education and investigation purposes, non-fault investigation purposes, to better things for the farming community, I think farmers could get on board with that,” he said.
But if policies aren’t thoughtfully-planned, he said, buildings might not be safety-approved, or farmers may have to perform expensive upgrades.
He wants Bill 6 policies to consider the need for flexibility in employee work hours and not to require impractical, non-useful documentation.
He’s also concerned about sufficient time for implementation. B.C. farmers had years to put similar practices into place, he said, and if Alberta farmers have to implement them all at once, it could be a burden.
The government is responding to farmers’ concerns for input into Bill 6, but they scheduled their first consultations during calving, seeding and harvest. However, “(MP Oneil Carlier, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry) has talked to a lot of the crop commissions and I hope he’s listening.”
Jay Schultz wants the government to know that
“Farmers have safety in mind,” he said. “We love the people that we work with. We want to keep them safe and if there’s a way that we can be better … we’re open to discuss this.”
If Bill 6 saved one life, he said, it would be worth it.
“But I don’t think you’re ever going to have a great system unless farmers are involved … how do they know how to make a law when they don’t know anything about the industry?”
In response to early protests, family farms and Hutterite colonies were exempted from Bill 6, but that’s not necessarily positive.
“Originally it was touted as a safety bill, but once they exempted Hutterites and family farms, they kind of lost that side of it,” Jay Schultz said. “The three girls that died – now would a tragedy like that have been prevented (by Bill 6)? Would this have saved the Hutterite boy that died shortly after that?”
Lauridsen values the government’s early work on Bill 6, though he recognizes it’s not finished yet.
“I hope that whatever reasonable concerns the people that are protesting this have, are addressed,” he said.
Jay Schultz is associated with the Wheat Commission, which joined with other producer organizations to form a coalition with the task of communicating with government about Bill 6. He suggests people who want to express their views about Bill 6 contact their own production boards.
“There’s a good chance that your producer group is involved in this coalition,” he said. “These groups are your voice. It’s grassroots, so use them. That’s what they’re there for.”