Whether it is working at heights, on the tractor or with the livestock, there are a lot of ways people injure themselves every day. By taking proper steps to prevent an accident, you will be able to have a safer work place and keep the hidden costs of farm accidents out of view.
Workplace accidents can be classified into one of four categories: permanent disability, hospitalized injuries, non-hospitalized injuries and fatalities. Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS) has conducted research into the financial impact of a farm injury.
Permanent disability is an injury that leaves the worker with a permanent change to the body, such as hearing loss, extrinsic allergic alveolitis (farmer’s lung) or head injury. These types of injuries cost an average of $143,000 for health care costs to the farm organization. There is a noneconomic loss payment that compensates your worker for the physical, functional or psychological loss the impairment causes, which is determined once there is no further improvement expected for the individual.
Hospitalized and un-hospitalized injuries are the most common on the farm. Though these injuries vary in severity, they cost on average $10,000 and $700 respectively in health care costs alone. It is important to realize that even the smallest injury can come at a cost to the employer.
Finally, over the past 20 years, we have seen an average of 104 deaths per year within the agriculture industry. WSPS has reported the average farm fatality to cost $275,000. To family and friends, however, the cost is not measurable.
So where do these costs come from? Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claims, hospital bills and rehabilitation of your employee are all costs associated with an accident. For injuries where workers cannot return to work, additional costs may be needed for legal fees, settlements, retraining the employee for a new skill set, fitting their home for their new disability and, in some cases, replacing on-farm equipment or conducting renovations.
There are also costs that are related to finding and training back-up support for that employee’s position. In some cases, you may be paying an injured employee’s wage (either through light duty work or through WSIB) and a new employee’s wage.
Legal fees are potential additional costs that a farm may face due to a workplace accident. In January 2015, there was a worker who passed away after falling off a ladder at the farm. The farm was fined $100,000 by the provincial government after pleading guilty to failing to provide proper information, instruction and supervision of the task. The farm was also charged an additional 25 percent victim fine surcharge.
Time spent working through the aftermath of an accident is something that is often forgotten about. The time it takes to organize things, go to meetings, be on the phone, meet with inspectors and more adds up. Traumatic events in any workplace can also lead to emotional distress and guilt of the employer and of other staff. It is important to take time and let staff, as well as yourself, deal with the trauma, whether a death or a major accident.
The goal of any employer should be to provide a safe place for all. The best way to prevent accidents on your farm is to train your employees on the hazards, develop safe standard operating procedures and replace or repair any faulty equipment or building. PD
Cheryl DeCooman, CHRL, and Michelle Linington, B.S. (Agr), are with People Management Group. Email Cheryl DeCooman.
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