Echoes from the Pit: Lives Lost, Lessons Unlearned

No one should die in a manure pit. These deaths are preventable, but they are still occurring.
 
Recently, a single incident resulted in the death of six people on a dairy farm in Colorado, echoing a 1989 incident where five family members died in a manure pit. Even a Quebec coroner is urging for more efforts to prevent manure pit incidents following the 2024 deaths of a farmer and his partner in a manure pit on their farm.
 
You can read more about these incidents here:
The Bull Vine: The Colorado Dairy Farm Tragedy: Devastating Dairy Farm Accident Kills Six
The Canadian Press: Farmers should be more aware of manure pit dangers, Quebec coroner says
NIOSH: Five Family Members Die After Entering Manure Waste Pit on Dairy Farm
 
As far back as 1986, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published findings after investigating numerous confined-space fatalities and found these three common factors:

1. Lack of recognition of confined spaces. This means there was no thorough hazard identification process performed on the farm. Restricted spaces can become confined spaces, and these are often overlooked.
2. Lack of testing, evaluation and monitoring. This means the hazard assessment and control process was not careful or thoughtful enough, if it even occurred at all.  Many hazards can exist or develop in a confined space, especially after work begins. Luckily, there are also many measures that can be taken to prevent an incident from occurring.
3. Lack of a well-planned rescue. When a rescue is well planned and prepared for, in the event that something goes wrong, people can still leave these spaces alive.

These incidents raise two questions:
 
1. Why do these preventable incidents (not accidents) keep happening?
 
If it is a lack of recognition and understanding, AgSafe Alberta has developed free resources to support you in preventing something like this from happening on your farm.

• Download the free Alberta FarmSafe Plan Manual
• Take the free, online & self-paced AgSafe Alberta FarmSafe Plan Learning Program
• Download the free AgSafe Alberta Confined Space Awareness Manual
• Take the free, online & self-paced AgSafe Alberta Confined Space Awareness Course

2. At what point will we see more government involvement on farms as a result of these types of incidents?
 
It’s not just confined-space incidents finding their way into the news headlines. Earlier this year, chemical handling on farms made national news and has yet to make its way through the courts. Similarly, an incident in Saskatchewan where a worker drowned as a result of entering a dugout on horseback has resulted in charges.
 
As far as federal law stands, it would be reasonable to expect that if a farm worker were to die in a confined space incident, such as those presented here, the farmer and supervisor (if there was one) could both be charged as criminally negligent and face time in prison. If you are not already familiar with this, it is highly recommended that you read Section 217.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has created a document to help you better understand this: Westray Bill (Bill C-45) – Overview .