During a week especially dedicated to making one of Canada’s most dangerous jobs safer, there were two brutal reminders — one in Southwestern Ontario — that the farm safety campaign has a long way to go.

In Elgin County, a 56-year-old farmer died when he fell into a grain silo while trying to dislodge corn from an auger.

On a Quebec farm, a four-year-old boy was killed when he was hit by a snowblower driven by his father.

Last week was National Farm Safety Week, but the death toll in recent months alone in Southwestern Ontario — home to one of the nation’s richest farm belts — has run to nearly 10, people, including a young girl.

It’s a grim reminder just how deadly-dangerous farming, one of Ontario’s largest industries, remains.

Farm accidents claim about 80 lives a year across Canada, including about 20 in Ontario.

The toll often includes children and, increasingly, seniors, said Dean Anderson, agriculture program manager with Workplace Safety and Prevention Services, a provincial health and safety association.

The Mississauga-based association was formed through a 2010 merger of three safety groups, the

Farm Safety Association, Industrial Accident Prevention Association and Ontario Service Safety Alliance.

Farming’s death toll doesn’t account for those who survive but are left horribly maimed, Anderson said.

But while the rural tragedies continue, costing an estimated $116 million a year in Ontario in economic losses, on on top of the human suffering, the situation is actually improving, said Anderson, who’s worked on farm safety issues for about 15 years.

“The incidents numbers are going down. If you were to look at statistics generally about 20 years ago, we’re probably 20% less now. Is that satisfactory, is that where we want to be?

“The answer is no,” he said.

Tractors are the big killer, with roll-overs and run-overs accounting for half of Ontario deaths.

Deaths involving farm equipment, such as getting caught in spinning power takeoffs, make up about another 20%, Anderson said.

The rest of the farm deaths involve a wide variety of causes, including drownings in ponds and grain bins, hazardous air around silos and manure storage, overhead power wires and injuries from livestock, he said.

Anderson has a hunch that distracted driving — both on roads and in farm fields — is increasingly playing a role in farm injuries.

“Your approaching time is so fast on a slow-moving (farm) vehicle. If you look down to touch one button, you can close on something pretty quick,” he said.

“Texting while you are driving a tractor, talking on the phone while you are driving a tractor is just as bad as it is if you are driving a car.”

Another major contributor to the death toll is that farmers often work alone and aren’t found in time to save their lives after a serious injury.

The first sign of trouble is often when the farmer fails to show up for supper, Anderson said.

Farmers need to have a system in place where a family member calls them or regularly checks on them to make sure they are safe, he said.​

john.miner@sunmedia.ca ​

FARM DEATHS IN CANADA (1990-2008)

1,975: People killed

92%: Males

248: Children under age 15

1,008: Adults between 15 and 59

712: Adults 60 and above

7: Males of unkown age

September: Month when most farm deaths occurred

FARM INJURIES (1990 to 2005)

12,305 males admitted to hospital

2,525 females admitted to hospital

Source: Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting, University of Alberta

RECENT DEATHS IN ONTARIO’S SOUTHWEST