Winnipeg, MB, Feb 16, 2017: According to the latest Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR) information, agriculture-related fatalities are declining. CAIR is the only source of national agriculture-related fatality data in Canada.
From 1990 to 2001, an average of 116 people died due to an agriculture-related incident. From 2002 to 2012, the average number of agriculture-related fatalities declined to 85 per year. Also encouraging is the fatality rates of all age groups saw decreases in this period.
“The decrease in the fatality rates is encouraging,” says Marcel Hacault, the Executive Director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA). “It means that we are moving in the right direction.”
Between 2003 to 2012, farm machinery continued to be involved in most agriculture-related fatalities with runovers (18%), rollovers (18%) and being pinned or struck by a machine component (9%) accounting for the top three ways people were fatality injured.
Fatality rates due to rollovers and from being pinned/struck by a machinery component also declined. Rollover fatality rates decreased an average of 3.6% annually and fatality rates from being pinned/struck by a machinery component decreased an average of 7.8% annually.
For the complete report Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting: Agriculture-Related Fatalities in Canada, visit casa-acsa.ca and click on Injuries.
About the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting
Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR) was established in 1995 (formerly the Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program) and provides the only source of national agriculture-related fatality data in Canada. The main purpose of CAIR is to collect and analyze information on agriculture-related injuries from across Canada. The CAIR report is the result of a collaboration involving various Canadian organizations. It is coordinated from a national office at the Injury Prevention Centre at the University of Alberta.
About the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association
The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and safety of farmers, their families and agricultural workers. CASA is funded in part by Growing Forward 2, a federal, provincial and territorial initiative and receives additional support from the agricultural and corporate sectors. For more information, visit www.casa-acsa.ca, find us on Facebook or LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter @planfarmsafety.
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For more information contact: Robin Anderson, Communications Coordinator, CASA/ACSA, 877-452-2272 or randerson@casa-acsa.ca
