The 17th to 21st of July marks Farm Safety Week so we are addressing the importance of safe work practices in the agriculture industry.
While the agriculture industry can be a rewarding industry to work in, it’s also one of the most dangerous. In 2015-16 the agriculture industry made up 2.3% of the workforce, but accounted for 23% of worker fatalities. Between 2005 and 2015, an average of 41 workers lost their lives in the agriculture industry each year, and 3,015 serious claims were made.
Some of the hazards to agricultural workers include:
Work health and safety duties
Under the WHS Regulations, farm owners and managers need to protect their workers by making sure that their employees and contractors are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
According to SafeWork Australia, the best ways to protect workers include:
Being Prepared for an Emergency
Being able to quickly respond to an emergency such as illness with first aid and being able to get people to hospital or a medical facility quickly is of high importance. This can help prevent people dying or having other complications.
According to FarmSafe Australia being prepared for farm emergencies includes having:
FarmSafe Australia have developed a number of resources, guides and checklists that are beneficial when implementing and monitoring safe work practices
Earlier we mentioned how Quad bikes and vehicles are one of the hazards to agricultural workers and farmers. To give you a better idea of just how much of a hazard it is, the University of Sydney recently reported that since 2001 over 230 Australians have died in quad related incidents. This makes quads the leading cause of non-intentional injury death on Australian farms (outranking tractors).
Farmers are urged to think carefully about their use of quads taking into account the safety risks. In a majority of cases , quads are not fit for purpose for the tasks required by farmers and more suitable vehicles should be used taking into account the different terrains.
Farm Safety Week aims to raise awareness of farm safety issues across Australian and some practical steps farmers can take to improve worker health and safety.
For more information as to how you can implement safe work practices, contact us here.