Take care out on the farm this spring

Lambing and calving season is a busy time for farmers and can also mean a higher chance of accidents.

Work smarter, not harder, to avoid being a casualty - that's the message from Federated Farmers.

With lambing and calving season under way, the organisation is asking farmers to be more safety-conscious.

There were 20 deaths on farms recorded nationally in the past year, with five in August and September last year.

In Tararua district, there have been six deaths in the past 10 years, with four on motorbikes.

In Hawke's Bay, there have been 16 deaths in agricultural workplaces in the 10 years to May this year, with two in September last year and one in January this year.

Federated Farmers vice-president and health and safety spokeswoman Karen Williams said those numbers were "not what we want".

She said these were more than just fatalities because they had an impact on not only the family, but the business in terms of staffing, the investigation into the death and various other economic factors.

At least half of those deaths were from four-wheeler bikes.

Williams said these vehicles were essential tools on the farm, but there were things farmers could do to try to prevent accidents, such as maintenance, doing checks before going out, or having roll-over protection.

Another idea was to use an emergency locator beacon that could be clipped on a belt rather than the front of the bike, where it would be unreachable if the rider were pinned.

Williams said another commonsense measure was to have a plan and let someone know about it, and a possible time for return.

She said sometimes plans could go awry, but it would still give some idea of what was going on.

With the lockdowns, it was more likely children would be at home and spending a lot more time on the farm, but that also increased the potential for something to go wrong.

Williams said farmers could use such measures as making sure the children wore helmets or used seatbelts, if they were installed, when using vehicles.

"It's all about having a safer farming mindset," she said.

Spring is also a peak time for farming and that made for longer and more tiring days for farmers.

Williams said it was all about "thinking smart" and deciding whether a job needed to be completed that day or if it could wait.

"We're asking farmers to stop for a minute and consider the safest options for them to continue their work," she said.

There was also concern that increased workloads due to staff shortages could mean fatalities this year could be worse than last year.

"Lets not see that spike happen again," Williams said.

"Safety is an easy habit to set in place and a great example for those kids running around with you for the upcoming weeks."