Fire safety education is critical in the workplace, but when the workplace is a farm, it is even more vital. Agriculture settings are unique environments with their own unique fire hazards. Fire is your farm’s enemy, one that can change your life and the lives of your family and employees in a flash. It is crucial to know what the hazards are on your farm, how to prevent fires and what to do in the event of a fire.
What are the potential hazards on a farm?
Each farm is a little different and has its own unique hazards, but some hazards they may have in common are natural combustible materials, chemicals, machinery, livestock, vehicles and dust. The list of potential hazards is very extensive but may include the following:
- Motors and augers
- Bedding and feed (hay, straw, silage)
- Fuel and oil
- Wooden buildings
- Electrical fixtures and electrical panels
- Welding and torch sparks
These hazards are a necessary part of farming and cannot be eliminated. With that in mind, it is important to take all reasonable precautions to prevent fires on your farm. You must also have a solid fire safety plan in place along with having regular practice drills to ensure all employees know what to do in the event of a fire emergency.
Some things you can do to help prevent a fire are:
- Have a no-smoking policy in and around all buildings on the dairy and set up a designated smoking area.
- Hardwire all electrical systems and keep electrical extension cords to a minimum. Keep a 10-pound ABC fire extinguisher close when having to use extension cords.
- Remove all frayed or damaged extension cords.
- Clear trash, debris and clutter from all buildings. Keep dust and cobwebs to a minimum.
- Store all combustible items (hay, straw, fuel) away from livestock barns to prevent the spread of fire throughout the barns.
- Keep grass and weeds near buildings cut low.
- Keep electrical panels and fixtures clean and dry.
- Never store or maintain motorized equipment in the barn with livestock.
- Utilize a hot work policy when performing tasks that could generate a spark.
- Ensure you have fire extinguishers in all buildings, especially where maintenance is completed. You must also have a fire extinguisher in each piece of farm equipment.
- Regularly inspect all fire extinguishers to ensure they are in good working condition.
Being diligent in preventing fires is important, but unfortunately, fires can still happen. You must be prepared!
Creating a fire safety plan
Your fire safety plan should include a list of local emergency services numbers as well as a description of your exact location, to help fire services get to your farm as quickly as possible. You should also have a map of your farm layout with all the buildings, where fire extinguishers are and where building exits are. Ensure everyone knows where the meeting place is and how to get there safely. Have a plan ready for where you will relocate livestock in the event you need to evacuate their barn. Your local fire department and your insurance company will come onsite and help you with your fire safety plan. They are the fire experts, and they are willing to help.
Practice makes perfect
Keeping calm and completing necessary steps during an emergency is difficult. It is critically important that your employees are very familiar with the farm’s fire safety plan. Knowing ahead of time what to do will allow them to think more clearly when faced with an urgent situation.
You must review the plan regularly with your employees and your family, and ensure it is updated with any changes to your property. It is crucial that all new employees are familiarized with the fire safety plan and that all existing employees keep it fresh in their minds. It is good practice to hold fire drills on a regular basis, at least annually. Make sure you have a fire response team that can take charge and assist the other employees, if necessary.
Fire drills are the key to success
The best way to learn and retain instructions is by physically completing the task. It is easy to have your employees read the fire safety plan, but to ensure that they understand it and will remember it, practicing it is key. Having regular practice fire drills allows your family and employees to see the plan in action. This also allows you to identify any weakness in the plan and fix any issues that arise before a real emergency is at hand.
No matter how much you plan, there will be unforeseen obstacles that can come up during a real fire. These could be a locked door, a blocked corridor or a fallen beam. Fire drills allow you to present these types of obstacles and provide the employees an opportunity to map out a secondary escape route.
If your farm is equipped with fire alarms or smoke detectors, they must be tested regularly to ensure they are in good working order. If your farm does not have a fire alarm, there must be another way to communicate an emergency situation to all employees – for example, cell phones.
In Ontario, it is regulated that fire drills be completed at least once per year. The frequency of fire drills will depend on the size and complexity of your workplace, the number of employees and the type of work being carried out.
There is no way to completely eliminate the possibility of a fire or emergency occurring on your farm, but with careful planning and regular fire practice drills, you can ensure that you, your family and your employees will be ready to act if that unfortunate day ever comes. Having a solid plan everyone knows well will ensure the emergency is handled with as little damage and injuries as possible.
References omitted but are available upon request by sending an email to the editor.
Six steps to complete when conducting a fire drill properly
- Notify all employees of the emergency evacuation; this can be done by cell phone or another means of communicating.
- Have everyone meet at the designated safe meeting location.
- Take attendance to ensure everyone has evacuated.
- Initiate a discussion to review what went well along with any areas of concern.
- Document the fire drill by completing an emergency response and/or fire drill record.
- Make any necessary changes to the fire safety plan and emergency evacuation plan.
