Growing up at the farm, Marci LeBlanc learned the importance of safety in the agricultural field firsthand. The personal experience summarized in the form of an essay earned her a $1,500 scholarship.聽
The University of Saskatchewan presented the award to LeBlanc on March 12 at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities鈥� (SARM) annual convention.聽
In her essay, LeBlanc talked about the main hazards, and ways to avoid and prevent accidents and injuries in an intense farm environment.
鈥淕rowing up on the farm, I know how we do things 鈥� and what we do to prevent accidents. It was all in my head, it wasn鈥檛 a research paper, it was all from hands-on experience,鈥� said LeBlanc.
She鈥檚 been operating a combine during harvest season for quite a few years now. She's also been helping to move and load equipment. She鈥檚 been there for seeding and she鈥檚 tried spraying. And this year since school is out, she plans to help more with seeding as well. Knowing the procedures, she understands possible dangers that have become a part of the daily farming routine really well, and she also knows how important it is to follow the safety tips even during the busy times.
鈥淭he farm gets pretty busy, so sometimes I feel that some (of the safety procedures) are missed every once in a while, but the bigger ones we don鈥檛 miss,鈥� said LeBlanc.
In the essay, she outlined that they always ensure all seals and guards are in place on the equipment. They also wear proper clothes and shoes when working with heavy machinery.
鈥淢ake sure you don鈥檛 drop anything on your toes. Everyone learned that lesson once or twice. You don鈥檛 wear flip-flops to the field.鈥�
When spraying around someone鈥檚 yards, they inform the owners while they have the proper personal safety gear on.
The safety procedures were also illustrated by some family examples.
鈥淢y grandpa was running one of the drills and then he accidentally clipped the power pole, so the safety was to stop, call SaskPower, make sure nothing bad could happen,鈥� said LeBlanc.
In the essay, she also pointed out the importance of having measures in place for the safety of other people who come across farm equipment.
鈥淲hen we are going down the road with all our farm equipment we have a pilot truck at the front, sometimes even at the back to make sure people see us and slow down or get over before they get too close because we move a lot slower than regular traffic,鈥� said LeBlanc.
Mental health was another focus of her award-winning paper.
鈥淎nother thing was managing the stress because it鈥檚 a big safety concern. Getting enough sleep, making sure that we have enough workers during seeding, so no one鈥檚 overtired,鈥� explained LeBlanc.
LeBlanc applied and was accepted to the U of S College of Agriculture Bioresources for the animal bioscience program and the scholarship helped cover her tuition.
