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Gord Ellis is a crop producer from the Olds area who par cipated in the Advisor pilot project. Ellis explained that he has safety measures in place on his farm but he had not formalized a program. He believes that he runs his opera on in a safe manner, but wanted to validate the safety prac ces he has in place, and address any poten al gaps. "We have unwri en safety policies on our farm and the Advisor, Sherri Marthaller, helped document and formalize the policies to provide structure to our safety program," Ellis said. "It was a painless process. The Advisor toured our farm to gather the general scope of the opera on, iden fy jobs, hazards and controls, and to determine the level of safety already in place. Sherri took this informa on and returned with a customized farm safety management program, hazard assessments specific to our opera on, and tools to help implement and maintain the program." Ellis recommends taking advantage of the assistance offered by AgSafe Alberta to anyone looking to get started with farm safety planning. "We o en take safety for granted and it was invaluable to have a third party with agricultural safety knowledge and experience help us with our plan," Ellis said, adding that he suggests to start with the easy items and build the program over me. Advisor Dan Tro er hosted a mini-workshop with a group of neighbouring farmers in northern Alberta, to introduce farm safety management principles. During the workshop, the neighbours worked through hazard assessment examples from each of their farms, sharing ideas as they developed their programs. Par cipants who wanted to take their individual programs to the next level met separately with Tro er, to further customize their program. Though several producers have worked off the farm in other industries exposing them to regimented safety programs, producers are seeking guidance on star ng and establishing formal safety programs for their farms. "Producers commented that they would not have known where to begin se ng up a safety program for their farms," Tro er explained. The Advisors offer producers the tools and resources along with the occupa onal health and safety knowledge of an experienced farm safety professional who helps keep it prac cal and bring it all together. AgSafe Alberta has been partnering with research associa ons, commodity groups, municipali es, and community agricultural socie es, to host farm safety seminars and workshops around the province. The AgSafe Alberta website is the place to find the calendar of events of upcoming ac vi es, e-learning courses, tes monial videos from Alberta producers and you can "BOOK YOUR ADVISOR VISIT" from the website link. Call Your CANSEED Dealer: Galloway Seeds Ltd. Fort Saskatchewan, AB 780-998-3036 Hadland Seed Farm Ltd. Baldonnel, BC 250-793-9746 Meinczinger Seed Farm Ltd. Busby, AB 780-349-2456 Rick's Pedigreed Seed Barrhead, AB 780-674-6713 Dealer inquiries can be made by calling 780-674-6713 INTRODUCING AAC BARRHEAD PEAS An early maturing, medium size, human consumption yellow pea. "AgSafe Alberta has tools, resources and services available to assist producers in formalizing safety in their operations." The AgSafe Alberta programs and services provided to date were funded by a Growing Forward 2 grant, which was due to close at the end of February 2018. Programming will con nue under the direc on of the recently formed AgSafe Alberta Society. The board of directors for the Society is comprised of 10 producers represen ng crop and livestock sectors from across Alberta. The Society will be assuming the leadership and direc ng ac vi es and services star ng March 1, 2018. Contact AgSafe Alberta Society Chair Kent Erickson for more informa on. Look for AgSafe Alberta on Twi er: @AgSafeAB, Facebook: AgSafe Alberta, Youtube: AgSafe Alberta. S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 | 2 5

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