John Williamson: Farmers are getting the safety message and road users need to as well

Sheep need shearing, crutching and feet trimming, while lambs need docking.

OPINION

The lambs needed to be docked and the sheep were showing signs that persistent wet weather was producing overgrown hooves and daggy backsides.

We have a small block and a small flock - seven ewes, seven lambs and a young Coopworth ram.

Half our property is a small avocado orchard with the rest in grass. Sheep shouldn’t graze avos so that area is mown, but they do keep the rest of the grass in trim. Sheep, though, need shearing, crutching and feet trimming, while lambs need docking.

Unlike many with small blocks, we do have a small old woolshed where we can do all that.

But being a mid-septuagenarian means that doing all this is a bit more challenging than it used to be. That got me thinking about the issues of farm safety against road safety and we’ll get to that.

Family members helped to get the sheep through the trees into the shed. Most of them had not been there before and, without a dog, you need a few helpers. Some of these family members don’t have the dogs herding instincts so, a bit of yelling helps.

As well, the notion of putting rubber rings on lambs’ tails then cutting them off causes issues for the squeamish. The lambs also need vaccinating and it’s great that the team at Maunu Road Vets will decant small quantities of vaccine to keep lambs safe from clostridial diseases. So, the lambs docked, now to the dags and feet.

Spring grass growth produces runny poo which can accumulate as dags and lead to fly strike. Dags need to be removed and overgrown feet trimmed, for the sheep’s wellbeing. Catching the sheep can be a challenge for an old bugger.

As well you need to hold this struggling animal while using a high-speed handpiece with an oscillating blade which is capable of doing serious damage if you make a mistake. We got the dags off and feet trimmed but, with a bit of blood as a flying newly trimmed hoof took its toll on my thin skin. Ten days later the wounds are still recovering.

Now for the ram. Professional shearers charge twice as much to shear a ram as for a ewe, and they earn it. This is 100kg of muscle, which needs to be wrestled to the floor and dragged to the machine, then leaned against the legs to crutch. Rams are unpredictable and there is many a smashed kneecap to attest to that. I really struggled, but the ram was quiet and lay on the floor while I trimmed his dirty backside. Job finished, amongst mutterings of “I’m getting too old for this”, but that’s it until next time.

For me, family members were watching over as I did the job. Many farmers work alone and being consciously mindful and careful of that working environment is crucial to their wellbeing. But the farm safety record is not that great. Last year 13 farmers lost their lives on New Zealand farms and 2000 suffered serious injuries that forced them off work for more than a week. Farming has the worst safety record of any industry sector.

The 'Farm without harm' strategy has been two years in the making and specifically addresses four high-harm areas that need an urgent focus: risks to mental health resulting in reduced wellbeing; harm experienced while working with vehicles and machinery; physical stress and injuries from handling livestock; and harm caused by exposure to agricultural chemicals and airborne risks.

To deal with this, a recently launched “Farm without Harm” campaign and strategy is being taken to rural communities to help reduce injuries and fatalities. It’s a strategy developed and agreed by farmers and primary sector industry groups, to inspire a safer farm culture shift across the country. It seems to me that this is a collaborative bottom-up approach as opposed to the top down “Road to Zero” road safety strategy.

The strategy has been two years in the making and specifically addresses four high-harm areas that need an urgent focus: risks to mental health resulting in reduced wellbeing; harm experienced while working with vehicles and machinery; physical stress and injuries from handling livestock; and harm caused by exposure to agricultural chemicals and airborne risks.

Comparing “Farm without Harm” to ‘Road to Zero” is like chalk and cheese. Road to Zero is the government, delivered through Waka Kotahi and NZ Police. It is failing to meet its targets relating to safety infrastructure and enforcement action. There has not been a collaborative approach.

For the likes of Road to Zero to succeed it needs a buy-in to a systematic change in road safety thinking from road user groups, the AA, Road Carriers Association, road builders, council planners, policy writers, enforcement officers, and the road user public. Who knows with a change of Government?

Farmers, it seems, are getting the safety message, road users also need to get it.