Further to our focus on safety orientation and training in building a sustainable farm, safe work practices and written work procedures are a key resource to be used when employees perform hazardous tasks such as operating a forklift, tractor, and/or skid steer, applying pesticides, using elevated work platforms, and refueling equipment. Safe work practices and written work procedures are a type of administrative hazard control. Once you have identified the hazardous tasks on your farm, and performed a risk assessment, developing a safe work practice and written work procedure is part of the hazard control process for that particular task.
Section 4 of the Farm Safety Plan speaks to the development of safe work practices and written work procedures. Section 4:4 of the workbook gives examples of safe work practices and written work procedures that you may be able to adopt and adapt for the operations on your farm. Safe work practices are the do’s and don’ts of the hazardous tasks. Written work procedures are the step by step instructions on how to perform the hazardous task. More detail should be listed in the written work procedure for tasks that have been evaluated as a higher risk for incident and injury. To make lighter work of developing a safe work practice and written work procedure, use the task hazard analysis template from section 3:6 of the workbook.
