The launch today of a new guide to farming safely in Tasmania will help to improve the workplace health and safety on farms across Tasmania.
The Farming Safely in Tasmania Guide and USB is part of the Hodgman Liberal Government’s $435,000 Safe Farming Tasmania Program aimed at reducing accidents and illness on Tasmanian farms.
We have already made significant gains through this program over the past year including responding to almost 100 requests for advice, 31 on-farm consultations, 33 presentations to students and farm managers and participation in 14 trade shows and conferences.
The development of the Farming Safely in Tasmania Guide is the next significant step of the program, and will simplify work health and safety management for all Tasmanian farmers.
The farm is a unique work environment where family homes are often part of a workplace. Employees work in challenging conditions, exposed to the elements or in charge of heavy machinery.
This guide takes all of those challenges into consideration, and will assist farmers, farm owners, farm managers, farm workers and also families.
The guide will help farmers to develop a basic system to manage the health and safety risks on the farm with information about safety policies, managing hazards and risk, safe work procedures, induction checklists, supervision information and reporting hazards.
Importantly this will help to reduce the likelihood of a farm-related death, injury or illness, which is unacceptably high in Australia with farm workers accounting for 15.33 deaths per 100,000 compared to 1.93 for workers across all industries.
This investment in farm safety will help to drive a change in safety culture on Tasmanian farms, and continue an improvement in the safety and wellbeing of Tasmanian farmers.
The guide is available on the WorkSafe Tasmania and DPIPWE websites.
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