OFA is happy to announce the continued partnership with Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS) through the renewal of a memorandum of understanding (MOU). This partnership is driven in the interest of cultivating a mutually beneficial and collaborative relationship to support the growth of agricultural safety awareness and facilitate working together to address key safety issues affecting Ontario’s farming and rural communities.
“The farm workplace is a busy environment which can make it very dangerous,” says OFA President, Peggy Brekveld. “Heightening awareness of these hazards for both employers and workers is the first step towards minimizing small to severe accidents. Working with WSPS to offer our members a wide range of safety resources has been a great way to reinforce this messaging and we are excited to continue building our partnership.”
This agreement includes collaboration on co-branded farm safety resources and promotional materials, OFA will continue to sit on WSPS’s Agriculture Horticulture Advisory committee, in addition to providing WSPS with timely information regarding in-demand farm safety resources. The parties will collaboratively develop and maintain a project status summary to track activities, milestones and outcomes.
Overall, OFA and WSPS agree to commit to effective product development, reciprocal information sharing, impactful communications and promotions, collaborative projects and assessing collective impact.
“We commend the industry leadership of the OFA and their unwavering commitment to improving farm safety, not only among their extensive membership, but for the sector as a whole,” says WSPS President and CEO, Lynn Brownell. “Through our partnership, we are engaging with farm operators directly, in new and innovative ways. We value the opportunity to work together to influence the positive attitudes and behaviours that will lead to a safer sector for farmers, their families and their workers.”
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 37,000 farm families across the province. As a dynamic farmer-led organization based in Guelph, the OFA works to represent and champion the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, research, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more. OFA is the leading advocate for Ontario’s farmers and is Ontario’s voice of the farmer.
WSPS is the largest health & safety association in Ontario, responsible for more than 167,000 member firms across the agricultural, industrial/manufacturing and service sectors.