Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives
Farm Safety
Graphs
Manitoba has collected farm injury and fatality statistics since 1983. Each of the following graphs or tables presents details on who, when, where and how these injuries and deaths are occurring.
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Workplace Traumatic Fatalities Manitoba's total workforce is approximately 558,000. Of this number approximately 30,000 are employed on farms. Additionally, about 70,000 persons are exposed on a daily basis to the hazards of farming. Based on traumatic workplace fatality reports from 1983 to 2001, 46% of those fatalities have occurred while performing primary agricultural work. |
| Farm Related Injuries - By Month Hospitalization and physician clinic visit patterns show two peak periods consistent with planting and harvest periods. Fatalities are generally distributed throughout the year with very few incidents occurring in December and January and peaking during the month of August. |
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Agricultural Injury Profile - By Age Groups The first bar of each group represents the portion of the population in that age group. The next two bars are national and provincial fatality profiles. The last three bars are non fatal injuries in Manitoba. Of note is the over representation for fatalities (37 and 40.4%) of farmers 60 years and older compared to their portion of the farm population. |
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Farm-Related Fatalities - By Age and Gender Fatality data is compiled from information collected from The Workplace Safety and Health Division, RCMP, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Department of Transportation and Government Services. All fatalities are reviewed to ensure that the activities occurring at the time of the incident were consistent with standards used to classify such an activity as work related. In these years there were no female deaths in the 20 - 49 age groups or any deaths in the 7 - 14 age group. For children under 7 years, no fatalities occurred in the month of August which is the peak month for the occurrence of farm fatalities. Children under 7 generally are not workers - they are bystanders at high risk. Older people over 70 are similarly at higher risk but they are likely working. |
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Farm-Related Fatalities
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Mechanism of Death Unlike the source of injury resulting in hospitalizations, machines account for a significantly greater portion of the mechanisms involved in causing death. While animals only account for 8% of the mechanism causing death, these incidents occur largely in the over 50 age category. |
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Injury Hospitalizations Manitoba hospitalization data has been tracked since 1983. It has been collected using standardized information forms, which are now also used in the (CAISP) Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program which has provided extra information on injuries since 1990. Agricultural hospitalizations have shown a trend in frequency reduction since 1990. A noticeable change happened around 1995 when hospitalization numbers dropped. This may have been influenced by health care reform and changes in rural hospitalization and patient transfer patterns. |
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Farm
Injury Hospitalizations - All Age Groups Machinery, livestock and falls are the cause of 63% of all farm related hospitalizations in Manitoba. 50% of hospitalizations are from machinery and primarily large animals. |
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Injury Hospitalizations - By Age & Gender Data is consistent with the understanding that those in the 20 to 59 age group have the majority of exposure to workplace situations. However, despite the fact that those in the 60 plus age groups are working towards retirement, their injury frequency remains high. Children's hospitalizations are significant also given that their hours of exposure to workplace conditions is typically much less than that of persons older than 20 years. |
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Agricultural Injury & Illness Surveillance Project The Agricultural Injury and Illness Surveillance Project (AIISP) was carried out jointly by Manitoba Health and The Workplace Safety and Health Division with the cooperation of 5 sentinel physician clinics in Manitoba. The Project was intended to provide information otherwise unknown with respect to illnesses and minor injuries not requiring hospitalization. This pattern of injury is similar to other industries where eye and hand injuries are generally less serious and require medical attention but not lost time from work. |
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Illness Surveillance Project - By Age Group Similar to hospitalizations (60.5%) the age groups between 20 and 49 years account for the majority (67.8%) injuries requiring out-patient treatment. The very young and old are vulnerable to workplace injuries unlike other work sectors. |
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Agricultural Injury & Illness Surveillance Project -
Initial Visits - By Age & Gender Doctor visits are dominated by males in the 20 to 59 age groups |
