Farm death figures for 2024 show worrying trend

Preliminary farm death figures for 2024 have been released, as industry leaders remind families and farmers of the risk of children on farms over the summer holidays.

The number of people killed on farms, in forestry and commercial fishing has lifted in the past 12 months, preliminary figures show.

It comes as industry leaders remind families to be vigilant with children on farms during the holidays.

SafeWork Australia recorded 33 deaths in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors for 2024, up from 29 in 2023.

The average death toll across the three sectors averaged 38 over the past five years.

An AgriFutures report showed between January 1 to June 30 2024 two children under the age of 15 died on farm, down on three for the same period in 2023.

An additional 78 non-fatal on-farm injuries were reported, with 17 per cent of those events involving children.

Victorian Farmers Federation Making our Farms Safer chair Danyel Cucinotta said the summer holidays presented multiple challenges for both farmers and their families.

“There’s obviously access to childcare, with lots of farming families busy during this period without access to childcare or minding services,” Ms Cucinotta said.

“We need to consider the holiday period, friends, family and kids down the road who might not be from a farming background and want to come out on farm can pose a risk … we’re responsible for every child coming on and off the farm.

“No child deserves not to go home at the end of the day.”

National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke farmers need to remember to look after themselves, not only for their sake but for their friends and family.

“The one unique thing about agriculture is farms are not only a place where we live and we work, it’s a place to give the next generation of farmers space to learn their skills. But we need to double down on being careful how we set up safe places for kids to play,” Mr Jochinke said.

Mr Jochinke said January was a good time of year for producers to make allocations in the yearly budget for farm safety.

“Make sure there’s that line item of farm safety, slip in that $10,000 or whatever to get that silo up to speed, put a guard on the auger, or signs to slow down. It’s the small bits we do around the farm each year that makes all the difference,” Mr Jochinke said.

In the 10 years from 2008-09 to 2022-23, most workplace claims were lodged for injuries relating to what SafeWork termed animal, human and biological agencies (9732), followed by vehicles and other mobile plant (7630).

Accounting for hours worked, the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries recorded the highest serious claims frequency rate in the most recent available period of 2022-23 of 11.3 claims per million hours worked.

This represents a frequency rate of serious claims almost double the average observed across all industries of 6.6/million hours worked.