Farm safety decisions falling by the wayside to productivity plans

WorkSafe is urging farmers to make sure they are well-prepared to make safe on-farm decisions as statistics paint a shocking picture of the dangers of the ag workplace.

Safe travels: Decisions around safety need to be considered a high priority, according to WorkSafe. Picture: Supplied

AUSTRALIAN farmers are not spending enough time making decisions about their safety.

That’s according to WorkSafe agriculture practices manager Graham Phelps, who says managing on-farm risks should be the number one priority.

Speaking to a recent VirtuAg webinar, Mr Phelps said statistics showed more should be done to ensure safety decisions were being made.

“We believe that good decision making around safety is fundamental to a farm’s success and unfortunately statistics show that 2 per cent of the workforce works in agriculture in Victoria but 30 per cent of workplace deaths occur on farms,” he said.

“The stats will tell us there’s not enough attention paid to safety decision making, when the processes are exactly the same as what decisions are made around productivity.”

Mr Phelps said farmers should consider a safety plan an integral part of their business, and the same emphasis that is put on thinking about making money should be put on managing risks.

“We are hoping that we can lift the quality of decision making to the quality that is done with production. It’s not rocket science — it’s something farmers are really good at,” he said.

“You need to set some time aside have a think about your business, at least every year, and identify what your greatest safety risks are on-farm.”

He said paying attention to mitigating risks will have a huge impact on not only individual farm productivity, but for the safety of the industry as a whole.

“Make some bad decisions that have bad outcomes on safety, then your farm productivity, family and community will all be affected.”

“80 farmers have died over the last 10 years on farms and every one of those people should still be alive.

“We believe that fatalities on farms are absolutely preventable with good decision making.”

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