Roger Ludbrook
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.
"It will support farmers to manage their safety performance, build farm safety leadership and maintain regulatory pressure."
However, this hasn't satisfied Mr Ludbrook.
"Take all practical steps, farmers cannot ensure at any time the safety of their staff to the level currently being demanded by Worksafe NZ, if the MSD prosecution is the example of failure," he said.
Mr Ludbrook said to ensure the safety of all visitors on farms, farmers may not allow public access to their properties after citing health and safety reasons.
"If there is an accident and you have not recorded their visit, signed them onto the farm, advised them of all potential on farm hazards, signed away your liability and sighted any required gun licence, you will be liable under health and safety NZ for any injury or death that may occur while on farm," he said.
"Worksafe NZ is threatening our way of life, they hold the moral high ground around safety ... Farmers must push back against Worksafe NZ and how these new laws are being interpreted. Perhaps the closure of our farms to public access may be the catalyst to make Worksafe NZ start listening to our concerns about another government department gone mad with power."
Maximum fines of $250,000 to businesses for breaches to health and safety regulations could force the sale of small farms that were prosecuted, he said.
"This (farming) is a dangerous business.
"We don't go out every morning wanting to have an accident and I think what exactly constitutes practicable steps needs to be clearly spelt out," Mr Ludbrook said.
Mr McCone said more people were killed in farming than in any other work-related activity and in the past two years there have been 41 work-related deaths on farms. He said people were not just dying but getting seriously hurt, which affected farmers and their families for life.
"ACC received 32,000 injury claims in 2013 from farm workers. Farmers face a tough enough time without the loss of productivity and the financial impacts that go with it. Things have to change," he said.
Mr McCone said WorkSafe looked at the problem and sat down with farmers, sector groups and other stakeholders to discuss the issue while ensuring the success of the agriculture sector.
People who wished to enter farms did not need to sign in and out, but he said it was good practice if they did.
-More than 9000 farming injuries were reported to ACC in Northland from 2011 to 2013 - costing the national accident compensation scheme more than $9 million.