Experts give safety advice at seminar

Farm safety seminar organiser and chairwoman Sue Shepherd (left) with event supporters, from left, Eric Morrison from Fonterra which is providing the venue, Mike Goodison from WorkSafe, farm accountant Charmaine O'Shea, Bronwyn Muir from OnFarm Safety, David Templeman from Northland Inc, Caroline Fellows from Onside mobile phone app and Mark Coates from WorkSafe. Photo / Sue Shepherd

A farm safety seminar at Whangarei next month will field a team of expert speakers and admission will be free.

The catch is there will be space for only 40 people to attend so it is expected to be essential to call 0800 656 568 to reserve a seat.

The seminar will be held in the Farm Source conference rooms at 18 Kioreroa Rd, Whangarei, from 10.15am-2.30pm on September 28.

It will be chaired by Sue Shepherd, who with her husband Bill has a 500-cow dairy farm at Purua run by a 50/50 sharemilker and staff.

She began organising the seminar after finding it difficult to discover what farmers needed to do to comply with new health and safety regulations.

Mrs Shepherd had talked with Bronwyn Muir from OnFarm Safety at the National Agricultural Fieldays last year and had indicated that when the new laws came into force the two women would further discuss the options available.

The Health and Safety at Work Act which took effect on April 4 this year was aimed at reducing New Zealand's workplace injury and death toll by 25 per cent by 2020.

Mrs Shepherd said when she contacted health and safety contractors in Whangarei about the new rules they seemed to be focused on business not farm options so she returned to Bronwyn Muir and went ahead with an OnFarm Safety package.

"Our sharemilker was already doing a safety programme and had paperwork covering his responsibilities, but with the change in regulations and responsibilities now including owners/company directors there is a whole new process required to take us all to the new level," Mrs Shepherd said.

"As a result, I thought if I was having trouble getting to grips with it all there would be many others in the same boat. So I thought perhaps I could get Bronwyn to speak to a small group up here - not necessarily to sell her product but to talk about issues and process - and she has agreed to do that."

Ms Muir will discuss policy setting, recording systems and how to develop a culture that embraces health and safety programmes within your farming operation.

Mrs Shepherd also found several others with health and safety messages Northland farmers need to hear.

"Bronwyn's firm has teamed up with a company that has developed a very good app for phones to help staff deal with requirements in a format that suits the younger generation.

The company is called Onside and its representative, Carolyn Fellow, will demonstrate how the app can help farmers manage their health and safety systems.

"I also discovered Northland Inc has an option for farmers to apply for a voucher that will help cover training and purchase of programmes and software. There is a limit of $5000 per farmer and David Templeton from Northland Inc will discuss how farmers can apply for it."

Mike Goodison and Mark Coates from WorkSafe NZ will compare myths and reality when it comes to health and safety and the law.

Their disclosures are expected to cause surprise. Mrs Shepherd also recruited dairy farmer and farm accountant Charmaine O'Shea to summarise key insights from the seminar, which will include a light lunch provided by Fonterra, DairyNZ and WorkSafe NZ.