Newfoundland and Labrador’s agriculture sector is small, highly diverse and widely dispersed. It is rapidly becoming more diverse in terms of the types of enterprises and commodities produced. In Canada and globally, agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries with high rates of fatalities, injuries, and work-related illnesses. Very little is known about occupational health and safety in agriculture in the province.

SafetyNet participated in the Canadian AgriSafety Applied Research Program - AgriSafety - led by respirologist, Dr. James Dosman of the University of Saskatchewan. Working in partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture, Canadian Farmers with Disabilities, and other stakeholder groups, SafetyNet completed a multi-year, multi-pronged research and knowledge mobilization initiative focused on AgriSafety in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The SafetyNet AgriSafety project included:

1. surveying operators (farmers and other stakeholders) to identify their health and safety research priorities;
2. participation in the tractor rollover protection (ROP) intervention of AgriSafety
3. synthesizing the literature on agricultural safety and contextualizing the results for the industry structure and developmental trends in Newfoundland and Labrador;
4. developing and implementing a knowledge transfer (KT) and research program on agricultural safety

 

Publications and Related Resources

Low Cost Roll-Over Protective Structures Intervention Project (Agrivita link)

PAMI Low Cost ROPS: An Intervention Pilot Project (link to YouTube video)

Agricultural Safety in NL: Full Report (2017)

Agricultural Safety in NL: Summary Report(2017)

Interview Schedule for Agricultural Operators

The NL Agricultural Context - A Comparison with the Overal Context in Canada (2016)

Review of the Literature on Agricultural Safety Contextualized for the NL Agric (2015)

Media

ROPS article - Agriview NLFA Newsletter (Summer 2016)

What's Happenng in Farm Safety - Agriview NLFA Newsletter (Holiday 2015)

ROPS Recruitment Poster (2016)

 

For more information on this project contact:

Dr. Barbara Neis
bneis@mun.ca

 

Funding Sources:

• Office of Public Engagement, Memorial University
• Agrivita Canada Inc., (funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Growing Forward 2)
• Office of the Associate Vice President (Grenfell Campus) Research
• Office of the Vice President (Research), Memorial University
• Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador