Farm safety key concern after towing accident near Cupar

Jim Wassermann is the Vice President of Saskatchewan operations for the Prairie Agriculture Machine Institute, he works in partnership with the Canadian Agriculture Safety Association to develop safety measures for farm equipment.

He explained that tow ropes all have specific ratings in terms of pressure and weight and it's actually best to avoid chains altogether.

“Whenever you're trying to pull out an implement where you're going to be subjecting it to really extreme forces you should never use anything that has a chain or a metal component to it,” Wassermann said.

In these circumstances it's easy to see that people would just use whatever equipment they have at hand bu there are actually nylon and synthetic ropes or steel cables that are rated for towing heavy equipment

Wassermann pointed to the CASA's recommendations to go through steps to ensure safety of all equipment in any different situation. Especially to assess if there are any metal components that could turn into a slingshot if something breaks.

“Before you do anything, just take a minute to think about what the risks are and to ensure that you are addressing them,” he said.

Adding if you develop the habit of assessing the hazards and risks then you can probably deal with any of the thousands of possible situations on a farm.

news@panow.com

by Adriana Christianson

Farm safety key concern after towing accident near Cupar

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