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WorkSafeBC

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Preliminary Safety Alerts


Safety Alert: Potato harvesting equipment can be dangerous new item

With potato harvesting underway, employers and workers need to be aware of the hazards that can be associated with harvesting equipment and take steps to prevent injuries.  Since August 2011, WorkSafeBC has received three reports of serious injuries or fatalities involving potato harvesting equipment.

September 2012: A worker suddenly stepped off the picker platform of a potato harvester and onto the ground. The worker was immediately run over by the harvester as it backed up. He died from his injuries. WorkSafeBC found that the workers who were using mobile equipment to harvest potatoes did not use clear procedures for communicating with one another. The employer was ordered to immediately develop these safe work procedures and train all its workers to use them. WorkSafeBC continues to investigate the causes of this incident. 

October 2011: A worker was retrieving a potato from the moving conveyor of a potato harvester when the worker’s arm became entangled between a sprocket and the conveyor. The incident resulted in the amputation of the worker’s lower arm. WorkSafeBC investigated and concluded that the causes of the incident included a lack of safeguarding and inadequate training and supervision.

August 2011: An untrained worker who was doing maintenance on a potato harvester slipped and had his leg pulled into the machine’s energized, unguarded rollers. The worker suffered multiple serious injuries. WorkSafeBC investigated and concluded that the causes of the incident included a lack of de-energization and lockout procedures, a lack of safeguarding, and inadequate training and supervision.

Read the investigation report.

Safety requirements
Here are some of the health and safety requirements that agricultural employers need to comply with.

Employers need to ensure that

  • Their equipment has the required safeguards
  • Their workers follow safe procedures for de-energizing and locking out equipment
  • Their workers are adequately instructed, trained and supervised
  • They develop safe communications procedures for workers who are using mobile equipment and instruct and train their workers to use those procedures

For more information on requirements, see the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, Part 28: Agriculture and Part 16: Mobile Equipment.

Other resources
Lockout protects farm workers
http://www2.worksafebc.com/PDFs/Agriculture/lockout.pdf

Lockout booklet
Available in English, Spanish, and Punjabi

Safeguarding Machinery and Equipment: General Requirements
http://www.worksafebc.com/publications/high_resolution_publications/
assets/pdf/BK101.pdf

Staying Safe at Work - Agricultural Workers (Spanish)
http://www.worksafebc.com/publications/translated_publications/
assets/pdf/spanish/ph96s.pdf

Agricultural Equipment Safety
http://www.farsha.bc.ca/resources_publications.php?resource=435

Agriculture Safety Checklist
http://www.worksafebc.com/publications/health_and_safety/by_topic/
assets/pdf/agric_safety_checklist.pdf

Health and Safety for Agriculture
http://www.worksafebc.com/publications/health_and_safety/by_topic/
assets/pdf/BK135.pdf



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