03:11 pm, Monday 16 July, 2012

WorkCover NSW is calling on all NSW farmers to prioritise work health and safety in their farms.

The new work health and safety (WHS) laws which commenced in NSW on 1 January 2012 mandates farmers and farm managers to be responsible for the health and safety of their workers and other people who visit farms including customers, visitors and tradespeople.

WorkCover’s Work Health and Safety Division General Manager, John Watson said WorkCover will continue its support to the farming industry to help them adjust to the new arrangements.

“Farm safety continues to be a priority for WorkCover NSW after six fatalities and 1,766 injuries in the agriculture industry during 2010/11 that cost the WorkCover Scheme more than $20.1 million,” said Mr Watson.

“The most common injuries involved mobile plant and vehicles including tractors, quad bikes and machinery as well as sprains and strains while handling animals, and being hit by, and falling from, animals.

“With many farm roles involving work in remote areas or in isolation away from emergency assistance and first aid, improving safety for farm workers is vital.”

Mr Watson added that sheep and beef cattle farming is a WorkCover priority after being identified as one of NSW’s highest risk industries.

“Farmers and farm workers deal with work health and safety risks on a daily basis and are well placed to contribute to the development of work health and safety solutions,” he said.

“Through our Sheep and Beef Cattle Farming Program we will be working closely with the farming industry to develop practical and sustainable ways to improve safety on farms as well as identifying ways to get injured workers safely back to work sooner.”

A 15-minute farm safety checklist was developed by WorkCover and Mr Watson is encouraging all farmers to think about work health and safety in their farms.

“Every farm-related fatality and injury has a devastating impact on families, communities and the farming industry and the safety Checklist helps farmers quickly identify potential problems,” said Mr Watson.

“It includes general farm safety as well as specific risks such as tractors and equipment, chemicals, silos and field bins.”

Resources on farm safety can be accessed through the WorkCover NSW website.

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01:06 pm, Monday 16 July, 2012

Marking Farm Safety Week runs today to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries in farms. The campaign comes after eight out of 25 work-related deaths in Victoria last year were on farms.

Ross Pilkington of WorkSafe Victoria said that since three of these deaths involved animal handling, inspectors would be focusing on dairy, beef and sheep cattle farms. Inspectors will also target dangerous machinery and unsafe manual handling.

“More than half of the 478 claims WorkSafe received in the agriculture industry last financial year came from livestock farming, particularly dairy, sheep and beef cattle farming,” said Mr Pilkington.

“Many injuries were caused by workers being hit by moving objects, body stressing, slips, trips and falls and vehicle accidents.”

“We know a number of injuries are not picked up in these figures as many farmers are self-employed and not on the workers’ compensation system.

“Our priority is to ensure workplaces are as safe as possible and that workers get to go homes to loved ones at the end of the day.”

When an incident occurs in a country area, the impact it has on all involved is devastating, profound and long lasting.”

He also stressed some common safety issues identified on farms including machinery without guarding, forklifts without seatbelts, pallet racking being overloaded, poorly stored chemicals, quad bike operators without helmets and tractors without rollover protection.

WorkSafe inspectors will also check if safe systems of work including proper instruction, training and supervision are in place.

“If you’ve got things under control we’ll be in and out very quickly but if you don’t, action to get issues fixed will be taken either through voluntary compliance or through issuing an improvement notice,” said Mr Pilkington.

Farms need to be treated like any other workplace out there, even if it’s a small, family operated business.”

“They don’t have to be dangerous, they can be made safer but it requires a team effort. Taking the time to think through a problem and following it with action could make a huge difference.

WorkSafe offers the following tips to ensure farm safety:

• Make sure your tractor has roll over protection and falling object protection
• If you’re working at height, use a scaffold, elevated work platform or fall protection device. Never travel on top of loads on vehicles or trailers
• Make sure you’re using machinery for the purpose it’s intended. For example, when using a quad bike, ensure it used in line with the manufacturer’s design and specifications. Always wear a helmet and ensure people under the age of 16 do not operate an adult sized quad bike.
• Be aware of the proximity of powerlines  in paddocks where harvesting is underway
• Keep children away from work sites and machinery in operation – particularly during loading and unloading operations
• Fatigue leads to impaired judgement – take regular breaks, drink plenty of fluids and eat nourishing food
• To avoid sun exposure and heat exhaustion, cover up and carry plenty of water.
• When tarping grain or covering loads on vehicles, be aware of the weather forecast and avoid working in high winds.
• If you’re doing manual tasks like lifting heavy or awkward objects on or off vehicles, use a vehicle loading arm to prevent muscle and bone injuries
• If you’re working alone, always let someone know where you are and your expected time of return.

More information on farm safety can be found on the WorkSafe VIC website.

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11:36 am, Thursday 28 June, 2012

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is encouraging farmers and other rural workers to focus on controlling the top six health and safety risks in the farming industry. These include quad bikes, tractors, other farm vehicles, unguarded machinery, hazardous manual tasks, and animal handling and mustering which has resulted to three deaths in rural Queensland workplaces over the last year.

This call is in line with the observation of the National Farm Safety Week from 16-21 July, which is held to raise awareness of farm safety issues across Australia, as part of Farmsafe Australia members’ effort to reduce injuries and fatalities on farms.

This year’s theme, ‘Safe Farms: Fix It For Everyone,’ will show how the newly implemented WHS laws emphasise the importance of basic safety for farmers, their workers, their families and contractors.

Rural property owners will also be encouraged to identify major hazards on their farms, consider solutions to address the hazards and then take action.

Farmers will also be given the opportunity to talk about safety issues with other family members, workers and contractors and to work together to address safety issues.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland calls on farm workers, whether family members, employees or contractors to realise potential hazards on the farm and know the steps to reduce the risks. New or inexperienced workers are particularly at risk, and are advised to get a full safety induction which highlights the workplace’s expectations for safety and limiting risks.

More information on National Farm Safety Week is available through www.farmsafe.org.au. A copy of the Farm Safety Brochure can be accessed through Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s website.

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12:34 pm, Thursday 21 July, 2011

Further to Monday’s story reporting on the rising number of farm deaths in Victoria, WorkSafe is investigating yet another fatal incident involving a 44-year-old farmer at a Yarrawonga farm on Tuesday.

The man was killed in an accident involving a tractor.

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said a 71-year-old was driving the tractor which had a cage fitted to it. The younger man was working inside the cage loading fertiliser.

The tractor reversed and the cage fell about 3m to the ground. The man died on impact.

“The issue we are looking at is we want people to use this sort of equipment (the cage) but we want to find out what’s gone wrong in this case,” Mr Birt said.

“This is obviously going to impact the family on the farm and the wider community.

“Farmers are very much over represented in fatalities and the most serious injuries. Since July 1 last year, there have been 21 deaths including five farmers on farms.”

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01:19 pm, Friday 8 April, 2011

WorkSafe is  investigating a farm accident near Shepparton on Wednesday.

A 25-year-old man was flown to hospital in Melbourne after his leg was pulled into machinery.

Ambulance Victoria says one of the man’s legs got caught in the blades of a large harvester.

He is in a stable condition.

“For reasons, which we don’t know yet, he got off the tractor and his leg got caught in the machine,” Michael Birt from WorkSafe Victoria said.

Shepparton paramedic Frank Gaylard says the man was stuck in the machine for several hours.

He says a surgical team was called in case the man’s leg had to be amputated to free him.

“Finally got onto the mechanic that fixes these machines. He arrived with his diagram and grapple gun and a few other bits and pieces that you need to get these things apart,” he said.

“He managed to get it apart and free his leg. Thank goodness it wasn’t as bad as we first thought, he may have fractures but he does have soft tissue injury fairly severe to his calf muscle.”

Mr Birt said the authority wanted to send a safety message to farmers.

He said regional workplace deaths in Victoria stand at three for this year compared to eight for this time last year.

Of the three deaths this year, only one – a tractor roll-over  was on a farm.

“We are very concerned that incidents involving farm machinery, while they can kill they can also devastate people’s lives and are very difficult to treat medically and one of our purposes of investigating is to get a better understanding of what happened in this case but also so we can pass the information on and build the body of knowledge,” he said.

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