Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has made available an online directory featuring businesses and services related to on-farm and other aspects of safety.
The directory was developed in response to people telling AARD representatives that they wanted access to businesses that provided services. A list of 24 contacts was produced and now put online.
“A lot of people were wishing there was a place where they could go that would list all the different individuals or businesses that had some service to offer for farm safety. So, if they're looking for a speaker to talk about farm safety, where could they go to find that,” said Kendra Lubeck, a farm safety coordinator with AARD, told the Gazette.
Lubeck said she hopes now that the directory is online, others who may be able to offer similar services will get in contact with AARD and add their information to future versions of the directory as it is updated.
“We're hoping that people can see that it's out there and if they want to be included will contact me and I can add them, and if they need to use the services, they'll go there and find a link that is useful for them,” she said.
Thus far, people offering occupational health and safety training and assistance in building a farm safety plan are listed in the directory.
Others provide general information on general health and wellness for children and adults that could be of benefit to anyone.
Lubeck said AARD is not screening individuals or organizations before they are included on the site. It's up to farmers and others to do their due diligence in checking out those listed in the directory to see if those providers might be someone whose services they would want to use.
“If they say they offer services in farm safety, then we'll include them because safety really doesn't have distinct boundaries. It's what it means to each individual,” she said.
The directory is a good way to promote safety and get the message out that safety is important, she said.
“Oftentimes, it's community members or champions that are looking to do some education and training in their community around farm safety, so it helps them have access to a list of people,” she said, adding that the listing will be geographically specific to allow farmers to see who is offering services close to home.
As more farmers use the services from contacts that are listed on the website, AARD officials will get a better idea of how helpful the directory is and how it might be improved in the future, she said.
“Certainly if we need to make changes to make it better we can do that, but for now, we haven't heard (from farmers),” she said.
People can access the directory by going to www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/aet14793.
"A lot of people were wishing there was a place where they could go that would list all the different individuals or businesses that had some service to offer for farm safety."Kendra Lubeckfarm safety coordinator AARD
