Myth 4: WorkSafe is trying to ban quads
Quad bikes are a valuable and essential farm tool when used correctly and appropriately.
But every day at least two people on farms need medical attention because of quad bikes. They are also a factor in 25% of deaths on farms.
WorkSafe and manufacturers both provide guidance for the appropriate use of quad bikes.
We encourage farmers to consider whether their quad bike is the right vehicle for the task at hand. It’s easy to lose control of a quad bike if you’re distracted, it’s heavily loaded, you’re towing a heavy weight, or riding over difficult ground.
For many farmers quad bikes are the only vehicle they use for light jobs, however, in some circumstances it’s best to use another vehicle. Whether you use a quad bike, tractor or ute, for instance, the requirement to keep people safe in your workplace means you need to choose the right vehicle for the job.
Myth 5: We can’t have kids on the farm anymore
Children are a vital component of farming family life and WorkSafe does not want to change that.
Farmers are responsible for ensuring other people, including children, are not put at risk from work done on the farm. The known risks on farms are best understood and managed by farmers and this includes risks to children.
Farms come with big machines, big animals and big pressures. Children and their parents need to be aware of the risks farms present and work to manage those risks – acknowledging that managing these risks for children is different from managing them for adults.
The younger the child, the less risk-averse they are, and the more attention needs to be paid by parents or carers.
But many risks can easily be managed by, for example, using vehicles suitable for passengers, fencing artificial ponds, covering pits, or even creating “safe kid zones” in dairy sheds, or working together with neighbours as farmers have always done. That means farming parents can still keep their children safe during busy work times.
Myth 6: I’ll have to give up farming because of the excessive compliance requirements
The new legislation will not impose onerous new requirements for farms.
It is an extension and strengthening of the existing law, putting the onus on those who can actually influence health and safety decisions.
While there is a little bit of work in getting things up and running, once it is in place it should just be part of daily work activity.
Given that safety is protecting the most important resource on your farm – you, your family, staff, and visitors – it also makes good business sense.
Myth 7: I’ve been farming for 30 years – I know my way around the farm and don’t need a WorkSafe inspector telling me what to do
An inspector’s job isn’t telling you how to farm, but to help you be sure you recognise and manage risks that might cause an injury to you, your family, staff or visitors.
Inspectors will engage with you and will be interested in your business – your knowledge and expertise is in farming, ours is in health and safety. Both are important in the workplace.
Myth 8: Safety is just common sense
If health and safety was really just common sense, and if common sense was really common, then we would not have the accident and death rates that we do.
Good health and safety needs to be based on more than just common sense and good farmers manage risk by placing the same priority on health and safety as on other production decisions.
Our job is to help you make good risk management practice a common event on your farm.
Many farmers have indicated they know good health and safety is important but don’t know where to start. We want to help with that.
Get started by visiting www.saferfarms.org.nz or calling 0800 030 040 to get a Safer Farms toolkit.
Myth 9: I am responsible for everything contractors do on my farm
You need to make sure you understand the risks they bring to your farm, which they should warn you about, and be satisfied they are managing those risks appropriately, which they should tell you about. If they don’t tell you, ask.
You are not expected to be an expert in their area, but if you feel their work is being done unsafely, you should stop it until you are satisfied about its safety.
You also have a responsibility to warn your contractors about any risks your work poses to them while at work, when you know or should know they are coming on your farm.
Any questions?
Have a question about health and safety on your farm? Safer Farms is the programme jointly funded by WorkSafe New Zealand and ACC to help reduce the number of injuries and fatalities in the rural sector.
FW is hosting an online chat with WorkSafe agriculture programme manager Al McCone on Wednesday 11 November from 7pm.
Find out the simple steps you can take to improve health and safety on your farm, and hear Al debunk many of the myths surrounding farm safety.
Go to farmersweekly.co.nz for more details.
