Al McCone: Farm incidents all too common

WorkSafe is working with organisations like Federated Farmers to develop practical health and safety tools for farmers. Photo / File

In the past week two farmers have lost their lives in quad-bike incidents. Last week a toddler nearly drowned in effluent on a dairy farm in the Waikato.

Incidents such as these are all too common. They are devastating for farmers, their families and the wider farming community. They will affect them for life. That is why WorkSafe New Zealand has joined forces with ACC and the rural community to create the Safer Farms programme.

Safer Farms and the new health and safety legislation currently going through parliament are not about new farm rules in Northland or across the country. The legislation is part of the Government's response to an unacceptable level of deaths and serious injuries in our workplaces, including farms. Safer Farms, on the other hand, is the regulator's response to a failure by the farming sector to fully accept its role and responsibilities in managing the risks it creates on our farms.

Safer Farms is a campaign to try and shift the culture of safety on farms. It helps farmers better understand how to make their farms safer, including how to meet their legal obligations.

WorkSafe has a critical role in ensuring farmers understand their responsibilities, rather than having them rely on information from uninformed sector commentators.

That's why WorkSafe is sitting down with organisations like Federated Farmers to develop practical health and safety tools for farmers. That's why we're going to field days and talking with farmers, and ensuring rural retailers get the correct health and safety messages to their customers. That's why we will work with schools to educate children living on farms how to stay safe on farms.

WorkSafe knows that people don't just work on farms, they live on them. We respect and understand that. But as workplaces, farmers have a responsibility to manage the risk they create. Regulatory breaches will be met with appropriate regulatory action.

We know farming is a risky business and while you can't eliminate all risks, you can manage them. Good safety management means understanding those risks and knowing the best and safest way to managing them, and making sure everyone on the farm knows it too.

Every day in New Zealand, 600 people don't make it to work on farms because of an injury. Since 2008 over 120 people died working on farms. Many farmers are expert at managing the risks surrounding stock, pasture and business but a culture change is needed so that those who work on farms stay safe.

The only way we can achieve that change is by working together. If farmers keep safe, they can keep farming.

Al McCone is the Worksafe Programme Manager for Agriculture.