Australian farms can pose significant dangers to employees in a number of ways.
Exposure to the Australian sun can increase risk of skin cancer, working alongside large animals can increase risk of bodily injury, and the use of farm vehicles such as quad bikes can cause catastrophic injuries.
Quad bikes cause the largest number of deaths on Australian farms, and more than half of the quad bike deaths result from the bike rolling over. WorkSafe is helping Victorian farms minimise risk of death through rebates for rollover protection devices and purchase of safer vehicles.
Injuries to the hand and fingers account for 16% of all injuries in the agricultural field, largely due to crush injuries from animals, or when using farm machinery.
Psychological injury caused by fatigue is also a risk to those in the agricultural industry, due to the tight deadlines and requirement to work long hours, sometimes in inclement weather.
WorkSafe have an Agriculture Practice which will be attending the following 'Agriculture Field Day' events, and information on health and safety in the Agriculture industry will be available.
- 2 and 3 August 2017 - Mallee Machinery Field Days, Speed
- 7 and 8 August 2017 - Sheepvention, Hamilton
- 2 and 5 October 2017 - Enmore Field Days, Agribusiness Pavillion
- 13 and 14 October 2017 - Wandin Silvan Field Days, Sporting Pavillion
If you have any questions about injuries sustained on a farm, please do not hesitate to contact our office for a no-obligations chat on (03) 9321 9988.
