Save our Farmers: NSW Government investigation to fight famer suicide, workplace incidents
Farmers under siege by bushfire, drought and climate change will be part of a new study to curb spikes in suicide rocking the commercial farming industry. SEE THE CAMPAIGN HERE.
Hills Shire
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hills Shire. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Struggling farmers at risk of suicide will be put under the microscope as part of a Centre for Work Health and Safety NSW investigation. It will look into the impact climate change and other workplace safety hazards have on the industry.
Better Regulation Minister Kevin Anderson announced the new study alongside Hawkesbury state Liberal MP Robyn Preston at Canoelands Orchard as part of a NSW Government plan to workshop an urgent new health and safety plan for commercial farmers suffering from mental health crisis.
Mr Anderson said the study would work with farmers across NSW who have adopted sustainable land management practices and/or alternative farming systems and find out about their experiences.
“Farmers are already overrepresented in workplace injuries and fatalities, so climate-motivated changes really need to be accompanied by scrutiny of what is and isn’t going to add to these risks,” he said. “The challenge now is to work out what is and isn’t safer, either for physical or mental health and to get on the front foot to manage new and emerging risks in sustainable farming.
“Research into this area is going to be able to help future-proof farming and drive down the rates of death, serious injury and illness.”
Centre for Work Health and Safety Director, Skye Buatava, said the study would work to develop solutions to major issues across the industry to benefit farmer health and safety, business productivity and the environment, while taking a “deep look into the impacts of mental health”.
Research found over the period 2000 to 2009, the suicide rate among farmers was 13.51 for every 100,000 in NSW, with increasing suicide rates observed among older farmers.
“Considering the changing nature of work and the mental health implications of an increasingly variable climate, farmers are facing a complex set of challenges to reduce these climatic impacts, as they shift to more sustainable land management practices,” A spokeswoman for the centre said.
Ms Preston said the region was “the jewel in Sydney’s agricultural crown”, however, farmers are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of
a variable climate.
“Although many farmers are adapting to the challenges and adopting more sustainable
practices, the Government needs to better understand the work health and safety risks
that come with these changes,” she said.
“Farmers are already overrepresented in workplace injuries and fatalities, so climate-
motivated changes really need to be accompanied by scrutiny of what is and isn’t going
to add to these risks.”
Canoelands Orchard owner, John Christie, 74, said farmers his age were “high-risk” when it comes to workplace injuries or death.