Farm Safety
The farm can be a dangerous place to work and each year sees more farm workers lose their fives, and hundreds more injured. The consequences of these accidents can be devastating to the families and their incomes. Increasing awareness of best practices to maintain the highest safety standards on farms helps reduce the number of injuries and deaths.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires that all farmers with more than 3 employees must complete a Safety Statement. Farmers with 3 employees or less can comply with the requirement by adhering to the Farm Safety Code of Practice, completing the Farm Safety Risk Assessment and implementing the appropriate control measures.
The best way to protect you, your family and anyone working or visiting the farm is to know where hazards occur and to eliminate or reduce the risks by implementing appropriate control measures.
Dairy
Injury by animals.
Vehicle injuries (ATV rollover).
Lifting, strain (lifting calves and feed).
Noise and OOS Slips, trips and falls (mostly in and around dairy shed).
Sheep and Beef
Injury by animals (hits and crushes).
Vehicle injuries (ATV rollover).
Lifting, strain (lifting implements, animals and feed).
Slips, trips and falls.
Noise (hearing loss).
Horticulture
Lifting and straining (produce, building materials, loading and unloading).
Repetitive work (picking, pruning, harvesting, sorting/bagging and noise).
Slips, trips and falls (ladders, wet surfaces, uneven ground).
Vehicles and towed implements (slipping off machinery, struck by towed implements, repetitive driving, run over, hit by tree branch).
Struck by object (tree branch in face, wire, building material, saws and knives).