Farmers encouraged to review WHS protocols during National Farm Safety Week

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in Australia. More than one in five workers who die at work are employed in agriculture. In 2016, there were 63 deaths on Australian farms.
 
Safe Ag Systems chief executive officer Katy Landt says these statistics are simply not good enough and is encouraging all Australian farmers to take another look at the safety of their operations during National Farm Safety Week.
 
“Farm safety is something we should all be mindful of year-round, but having a dedicated week allows us to educate around some of the major safety issues and encourage some positive practice change,” she says.
 
“Making change on your farm does not need to be time-consuming or difficult, and at Safe Ag Systems, we have developed some tools to help you develop a workplace culture of safety.”
 
In 2017, National Farm Safety Week will run from July 17-21. During the week, Safe Ag Systems will be publishing educational articles designed to encourage producers to view activities on their farms from a slightly different perspective.
 
These will be emailed directly to clients but will also feature on a dedicated section of the Safe Ag Systems website, as well as on its Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn channels, which will host a suite of handy hints and fact sheets in coming months.
 
“The theme of National Farm Safety Week this year is creating a resilient, safe and healthy ag community, and we see this as a way for us as industry to work with businesses and farmers to build that well-being,” Ms Landt says.
 
“We know farmers are a resilient and resourceful group who are all working hard to make their operations more efficient and safer. We want to publish regular relevant content in an easy-to-digest format to work together with farmers to build safer and healthier communities.
 
“Every action you take can help provide a safe work environment. It could be as minor as moving a tree branch off the road, or as major as running a training session for your employees. Safety on farms is critical but it does not need to be hard or time consuming.”
 
Once a primary producer understands their obligations and penalties involved with a breach they tend to be quite proactive, Ms Landt says.
 
“The difficulty is knowing where to start,” she says. “I give reassurance to producers that it’s not as hard as they think.
 
“Work health and safety has been shrouded in lingo and procedures, but once it is simplified and made applicable to farming practices it’s not hard to get a safe system of work up and running.
 
“Farmers are not alone, we can help."