Our series on Agribusiness Safety continues with this fifth chapter which will cover tips to ensure ensure that the buildings and structures of your Agribusiness are safe.

Acute Safety and Safety offers high-quality, physically distanced workplace health and safety training including Agribusiness Safety training. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2020. Join the many thousands we have trained over the years. Register here today.

Now let’s take a closer look at how to keep your building and structures safely maintained in your Agribusiness.

Here are links to all the chapters in the series:

Chapter 1: Personal Protective Equipment
Chapter 2: Guidelines For Use of Chemicals
Chapter 3: Operating Machinery
Chapter 4: Preventing Fires
Chapter 5: Tips for Buildings and Structures
Chapter 6: How ACUTE Can Help

Learn about the guidelines for Agribusiness Safety that affect your buildings and structures

Agribusiness Safety: Guidelines for Buildings and Structures

If you run or work in an Agribusiness, then it’s important to make sure you understand and follow Agribusiness safety guidelines for all of your buildings and structures. Some of the more common Agribusiness structures include:

• Produce storage and packing facilities
• Livestock and poultry housing; milking centres
• Manure storage facilities
• Grain bins and silos
• Feed preparation centres
• Farm workshops and greenhouses
• Farm retail centres
• Horse riding, exercise and training facilities

Agribusinesses include businesses such as:

• Farms
• Companies involved in AgroSciences
• Animal Feed companies
• Biofuel companies
• Grain transport and processing companies
• Farm machinery producers
• Farmer’s cooperatives

Read on to learn more about important Agribusiness safety guidelines to help you keep your buildings safe.

1. Get Proper Physically Distanced Training:

In order to protect your workers, you need to make sure that all of your buildings and structures are well maintained and have proper safety features installed. In confined areas where your staff need to work and when they are working with chemicals inside structures, it is important that they receive the proper training that will keep them safe.

If you need to get training for yourself or your workers, Acute Safety Services can help. We can provide you with the proper training for your employees. We can customize a course to meet the needs or your particular Agribusiness and we can perform physically distanced training either at our world-class training facility or we can come to your place of business; whichever your prefer. Contact us today to learn more.

Agribusiness Safety: ACUTE can give you and your staff the physically distanced training you need to stay safe in confined spaces and more

2. Agribusiness Safety: Working in Confined Spaces

If you have buildings or structures at your Agribusiness that have confined spaces that workers need to enter, these need to have appropriate warning signs posted on them. Only workers who have received confined space training should enter these areas. They should always wear the appropriate personal protective equipment when they are working in these areas.

3. Agribusiness Safety: Floors

Make sure that your floors are kept clean, sanitary, and orderly. You should check that there are no trip, slip, or fall hazards on your flooring and that there are no protruding or dangerous items such as nails laying around that could cause injuries if they are stepped on. Any openings in your floors should be properly covered or barricaded and you should also post load limits on your upper floors.

4. Agribusiness Safety: Stairways

Make sure that your stairs are also kept clean and orderly without any trip or fall hazards. Your stairs should be uniform in height and tread depth and free from nails or other protrusions. You should also have handrails on at least one side of any staircase. Also, never store any compressed gases near staircases. If you have outside stairs they need to have grating on them.

Agribusiness Safety: Outside stairs need to have stair grating

5. Agribusiness Safety: Exits, Aisles, and Passageways

Any aisles or passageways need to be kept clear and free of trip hazards. They also need to be properly illuminated during working hours.

You should have enough exits for a quick escape in an emergency and your exits should have properly illuminated exit signs. You need to keep any flammable items away from any exits. In the winter time, you should also keep your exits clear of any snow or ice.

6. Agribusiness Safety: Ventilation

Your buildings need to be adequately ventilated with hoods that draw air away from your workers. These hoods need to be connected to an exhaust system.

7. Agribusiness Safety: Electrical

Any high voltage and control panels in your buildings need to be closed and secured. You should have explosion-proof fixtures in areas where there is flammable dust or vapour and your electrical equipment should be protected from coming in contact with fluids.

There needs to be adequate lighting throughout the walking and working areas of your buildings and structures and your lighting fixtures need to be kept clean and free from dust, etc.

Agribusiness Safety: Install explosion-proof light fixtures

8. Agribusiness Safety: Storage Areas

You need to have adequate storage space in your facilities and what you store should be safely and securely stacked and stored. Make sure that your skids are the correct type and in good condition. You should also post load limits and storage heights. At the end of each day all equipment, PPE, hand and power tools, and materials should be returned to their designated storage locations.

Pesticide Storage: According to the Pesticides Act, 1990, and O. Reg. 63/09, it is illegal to store pesticides under unsafe conditions. Your pesticides need to be stored in their own separate and locked storage area. This area should have no smoking signs and authorized personnel warning signs posted on it.

Minimize the amount of pesticides that you store on your premises by only purchasing enough for one growing season at a time. There should be appropriate personal protective equipment available nearby and it should include a list of chemicals stored.

Compressed Gas Storage: You need to follow the guidelines as outlined in the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 for the storage of compressed gas.  Any compressed gases should be stored upright and secured. They need to be clearly marked and have their caps in place and hand tight.

Compressed gas needs to have a storage area located away from heat sources, stairs, elevators, and exits. There should also be appropriate warning signs posted in the area.

Agribusiness Safety: Only purchase enough pesticides to last one growing season

Are You an OABA Member? Contact ACUTE for Training

If you are a member of the Ontario Agri Business Association (OABA) then you can contact Acute Safety & Safety Services to provide you with the training that you need to meet your obligations set out in federal and provincial health and safety legislation.

The OABA has partnered with ACUTE to give its member access to the expanded resources and training services that ACUTE can provide you to ensure your success with the health and safety compliance programs.

To book safety services including training, inspection, audit, and consulting, you can contact Acute Safety & Safety Services either:

By Phone: 519-747-5075 or
By Email: info@acuteservices.com

Would you like to hold staff safety training at your own location? Click here to learn more.

How ACUTE Can Help with Training

ACUTE offers a wide range of training courses that you can either take at our Waterloo, Ontario training facility or we can come to your location and provide the training you require.

The following is a list of some of the training courses that we provide, however if you prefer, we can also develop customized training for you that is based on your particular needs as an OABA.

Confined Space Entry-(attendant/entrant 8 hours)
Confined Space Rescue-(non-entry/entry 8 hours)
Working at Heights-(8 hours)
Elevated Work Platform-(scissor/boom 8 hours)
Forklift-(8 hours)
Telehandler-(8 hours)
Overhead Crane-(8hrs)
Spill Response-(8 hours)
Transportation of Dangerous Goods-(8 hours)

Lockout/Tagout Awareness-(4 hours)
Personnel Protective Equipment-(PPE4hours)
Canada Labour Code Part 2-(4 hours)
Supervisory Due Diligence-(4hours)
Machine Guarding Safety-(4 hours)
Occupational Health & Safety Act & Regulations-(4hours)
Confined Space for Management (never go into confined space – 4hrs)
WHMIS 2015 GHS-(2 hours)

Our safety training sessions include both in-class theory and practical hands-on training. We will also supply you with the training guide, quiz, various visual aids, certificates of training, and wallet cards.

Trust ACUTE for the Best Agribusiness Safety Training

ACUTE’s experienced team members have been serving safety professionals for over 20 years. You can trust ACUTE for hands-on, practical Agribusiness Safety training to keep your employees safe. ACUTE is dedicated to workplace safety and understands the importance of course and training provider approval. Why get workplace safety training with ACUTE? Here are just some of the benefits of working with ACUTE.

• Open Door Instructor-Student Partnership – ACUTE’s training services emphasize client participation. Staff foster relationships with clients and serve as a touchstone for advice anytime moving forward.
• Serving Your Team and Industry – With a vast array of clients in manufacturing, construction, health, academic, and government sectors, ACUTE brings the best safety practices from across the spectrum to your workplace.
• 100 Years Combined Experience – ACUTE provides comprehensive health and safety training, on-site safety services, and consulting services. With over 100 years of combined experience, our company staff offer more than theoretical or abstract ideas.  ACUTE offers solutions.
• Track Record of Success – ACUTE is rated 4.9/5 stars on Google reviews, demonstrating a commitment to our clients, quality, and passion for training.

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