A Northland farming leader has warned new safety measures demanded by WorkSafe and the level of fines for breaches could force small scale farmers out of business and close farms to public access.
Roger Ludbrook, president of the Federated Farmers' in Northland, has called on WorkSafe to clearly define what it meant by "taking all practicable steps to minimise accidents" as the term was the death kneel for all employers. He described the term as "limitless" which gave the Government entity the licence to prosecute businesses while failing to take into account the fact that accidents could not be entirely prevented.
The decision to prosecute the Ministry of Social Development for its failure to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its two employees in Ashburton who were shot dead by a gunman was a case in point, he said.
But WorkSafe NZ has defended the new programme - Safer Farms which was launched in February - saying it was because of an increase in deaths and injuries on farms. The Government safety body said Safer Farms provides simple resources for setting up health and safety systems on-farm.
"Safer Farms has been developed with industry input and is about working with farmers and rural communities to take ownership of health and safety on farms, and develop practical solutions," Al McCone, WorkSafe NZ agriculture programme manager said.