Eight months ago, three farm workers died in Alberta. Because of the Alberta government’s rules on farm-related deaths, there has still been no investigation.

The Alberta Federation of Labour says that’s unacceptable, and are calling for changes to safety legislation.

Currently, the Occupational Health and Safety Act has an exemption for farms. The argument has long been that farms are family businesses run out of homes, and can’t be held to the same standard as other businesses.

The Federation’s Nancy Furlong says that’s no longer the case. The AFL says investigations could help prevent future deaths and injuries on Alberta farms. They add the change to the Act would be simple to accomplish.

So far their requests to the Alberta government have been met with silence.

iNews880, Mon Aug 22 2011