Farm Guide
Farm Equipment on the Highway

Additional Information

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act requires all farming operations that pay wages to register with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and pay premiums to provide coverage for their workers in case of a workplace injury or illness.

Workers include, any full and part-time employees, family members/friends of the family, any casual or seasonal labour and anyone else you pay for work done on your farm. WSIB coverage is also mandatory for workers hired through employment agencies. If the agency claims to have coverage, request a WSIB Clearance Certificate from them. If the agency does not have coverage, the employer will need to cover the employee(s).

Farmers who help out fellow farmers for no compensation, are not eligible for WSIB coverage. In this situation, the farmer would need to obtain private insurance coverage.

For more detailed information about the requirements and to obtain coverage, contact the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, Agriculture Sector Office, Guelph, Ontario. Telephone: 1-888-259-4228.

Safety Tips

Both attitude and the amount of danger in your job play an important role in working safely. If you are interested in safety, take pride in your work, and watch for dangerous situations you are less likely to have an incident.

Some Good Safety Tips:

• Do not abuse or neglect safety features built into the equipment.
• Do not operate equipment when your ability is impaired by illness, fatigue, alcohol or drugs; check potential side effects of prescription drugs with your doctor.
• When operating slow-moving equipment, do not hold up traffic unnecessarily; pull off to the side of the road and stop when it is safe to do so to allow traffic to pass.
• No-one should ride on the fenders, bumpers, steps or running board of any vehicle.
• Do not coast down hills by disengaging the clutch or shifting to neutral. You do not have full control when the vehicle is not under power.
• During refuelling, turn the engine off; do not leave automatic fuelling nozzles unattended and do not smoke or allow smoking within 3 m (10 ft) during filling.
• Leave equipment in such a way that it cannot pose a hazard for others.

Ministry of Transportation Contacts

If the information on this page has not answered your question(s), please contact the Ministry of Transportation Field Enforcement Office located nearest you, at:

• Durham Region (905) 728-7505 x 105
• Halton Region (905) 315-7556
• Hamilton (905) 643-7947 x 200
• Kenora (807) 468-2781
• Kingston (613) 544-2220
• London (519) 873-4286
• Niagara Region (905) 643-7947 x 200
• North Bay (705) 497-5411
• Ottawa (613) 731-1474
• Peel Region (905) 564-9190
• Sault Ste. Marie (705) 945-9395
• Sudbury (705) 566-1414
• Thunder Bay (807) 473-2021
• Timmins (705) 497-5411
• Toronto (416) 325-2642
• Waterloo (519) 885-4297
• Windsor (519) 972-9044
• York Region (905) 713-7324