News: News Archives: Farmers Get Serious on Farm Safety

'Farming - a way of death' might well supplant a more common phrase depicting life on the land as Australia's agriculture industry retains its dubious title of 'second worst industry for workplace death and injury' (second only to mining). A grass roots movement is now under way to turn around appalling statistics that each week sentence three people to death on Australian farms.

Agriculture has been a 'sleeper' in the death and injury stakes, with data concerning the risks only recently coming to light, as the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety's (ACAHS) James Houlahan explains.

"It was not until the late 1980s that we got a true idea of how dangerous farms can be. Prior to this statistics concerning the farming environment were collected from traditional sources such as worker's compensation claims. On the farm, however, a lot of deaths and injuries did not fall under this category, such as injuries to self-employed farmers, family and friends. We now know that these statistics represented only about 15% of the true casualty figures," Mr Houlahan said.

Farms blur the lines between home and workplace, which contributes significantly to the high risk factors. Among the average number of three people dying on farms each week are children, visitors, workers, farmers and spouses. "Tractors and power machinery are most commonly involved with serious injury and death on the farm. Of the tractor-related fatalities, one quarter of all deaths are children under 15 years of age. Tractor rollover and runover are still the main causes here," Mr Houlahan said. "In children under five years, drowning is the number one cause of death on farms and that can be in creeks, dams or troughs."

In addition to the pain and suffering associated with farm injury, there is also a financial cost which has been estimated at somewhere between $0.7 and $1.2billion per annum. "Primary producers are paying for the cost of these injuries in the form of loss of production, medical costs, wages for replacement workers, high workers compensation premiums, payments for rehabilitation and increasing litigation costs," he said.

Promotion of farm safety must therefore stress the importance of health and safety risks to be managed as an integral part of effective farm management Mr Houlahan said. To this end, Farmsafe Australia Inc has formed a consortium of key stakeholders in farm injury prevention and led by the National Farmers Federation that has developed an accredited training course entitled 'Managing Farm Safety'.

Corporate Australia has come on board to offer support, with Prime Super becoming a major sponsor of Farmsafe Australia programs.

"Prime Super has stepped in to play a vital role in the program through their sponsorship of a 15 minute video on farm worker health and safety induction that complements the two day 'Managing Farm Safety' workshop. Initially the commitment was to have 2000 copies produced, but we have just recently discovered that they have pledged a further 5000 copies be made. It is this level of commitment that can really make a significant impact and we are proud to have such a well respected member of the agribusiness sector supporting the program in this way," Mr Houlahan said.

As providers of total disablement and death insurance to rural Australians, Prime Super is no stranger to the risks life on the land poses.

In terms of sponsoring Farmsafe and the new safety video, Prime Super’s Chris Hoey said: "It is very easy to justify this sponsorship on a dollar and cents basis; after all, an accident prevented is potentially one less claim on an insurance policy leading to cheaper premiums for our members. But the real bottom line here is that behind every serious injury and death statistic recorded against Australian farms there lies a mountain of misery and shattered dreams.

"If through our sponsorship we can play a part in sparing that level of heartbreak to some of our members and members of the wider rural community, then we have made a worthwhile contribution to those whom we would seek to serve."