Farm Safety

Install smoke alarms inside and outside all bedrooms and in all principal buildings.
Install the appropriate fire extinguishers in key areas.
Work with our prevention team to develop and practice a fire escape plan with family and employees, and determine a meeting place.
Identify who may require special assistance (the elderly and handicapped).
Make sure buildings are well-spaced.
Keep cistern and stock pond relatively full and provide clear access to water source.
Ensure that appropriate fire protection equipment is accessible.

Keep fire department numbers posted on all telephones.
Ensure all electrical wiring is inspected and up to code.
Ensure all electrical equipment has a nationally recognized testing agency certification.
Replace worn wiring and use only 15 amp fuses unless otherwise specified.
Remove wiring and lighting from wet areas.
Inspect and maintain fire extinguishers regularly.

Before installing heating equipment, check product certification and insurance requirements.
Ensure that the pump is on a separate electrical circuit and located away from other buildings, to safeguard the pressure of the water supply for fire fighters.
Refuel equipment and internal combustion engines outside, but never while running and only once cool.
Ensure that crop dryers are equipped with adequate controls enabling them to shut off blowers or dampers when temperatures become too high in the heat transfer chamber.
Never use “home-made” dryers.

Designate safe smoking areas away from barns, crops, stores or flammable materials.
Before burning, check regulations with your local authority.
Burn rubbish in an incinerator equipped with a spark arrestor and never in a high wind.
Keep a pail of water nearby.
Never carry out field burning.
Do not use fumigants near an open flame or electric equipment.
Clean up. Remove all trash from the property.
Repaint weathered surfaces and remove rotting wood and fencing.

Provide proper ventilation.
Ensure crops – hay, alfalfa, clover, soybean hay – are well-dried and properly cured.
Make sure wet grains are below the safe moisture content before storage.
Check for spontaneous heating hazards regularly, e.g. manure pile.
Repair leaking roofs and openings to protect stored crops against wetness.

Inspect daily for signs of steaming, irritating odours, wet areas and “flues” in the hay for several weeks.
Have fire fighting equipment immediately accessible.
Petroleum products should be stored above ground at least 12 metres (40 feet) from any other building, in a tank on non-combustible support. In all cases vent pipes not less than 3 centimetres (1 1/4″) in diameter and cap them with weatherproof hoods.
Petroleum products should be dispensed from storage tanks with appropriate pumping equipment.