Practical Occupational Health and Safety
Australian agriculture has one of the highest rates of workplace accidents and, to date, has lagged behind other major industries in terms of its occupational health and safety performance.
Primary producers and farm workers are known to be one of the highest risk groups for occupational injury and disease. In addition to the pain and suffering and loss of well-being caused by occupational injury and illness, agricultural enterprises are facing increasing workers' compensation costs as a result of their poor claims performance, relative to all other industries.
Most recent information suggests that agriculture ranks as the second most dangerous industry in Australia, with on average one death occurring on a farm every three days. In addition to the high number of fatalities occurring within agriculture, it is estimated that between 200 and 600 injuries per 1,000 farms require attention at rural hospitals each year.
Occupational health and safety legislation in all States and Territories require employers/ managers to implement a risk management approach to health and safety hazards in the workplace. The underlying principles of risk management relate to:
New and inexperienced workers are particularly vulnerable as they may not be able to recognize hazards that existing or experienced workers do.
A farm business should create programs based specifically on prevention. New workers will need to know the procedures on your farm for:
Close and careful supervision, during induction, is essential for determining the new employee’s level of competency and safety on the farm. New jobs can be exhausting to start with. Be conscious of the effect of fatigue in inexperienced recruits as they get used to a different working context.
Organise introductory training courses on OH&S as soon as possible after the new employee's start date.
For more information on OH&S see www.farmsafe.org.au the website of Farm Safe Australia.
