Farmers have applauded the state government’s $435,000 commitment today to improve health and safety on Tasmanian farms, which they say are workplaces that are often overlooked in terms of both their potential danger and subsequent economic cost when things go wrong.
“Farming is a dangerous occupation, let there be no mistake,” Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president Wayne Johnston said.
“We have to perform a range of tasks under varying conditions in the course of a typical working day. It’s physically tough work, often undertaken alone, with heavy, complex machinery and with forces not totally under our control – the weather and the behaviour of our animals.”
Mr Johnston said a farmer’s danger list included:
tractors and quad bikes, especially those without roll-over protection. A tractor death occurs every 11 days on a farm somewhere in Australia.
harvesting, cropping, milking machinery
unfenced dams, ponds, rivers and creeks
kicks, bites and crush injuries from animals
farm chemicals
electricity
Mr Johnston cited one recent study, at the Sydney Medical School, that showed that farm-related fatalities are a significant problem in Australian agriculture, averaging more than 100 deaths a year.
Seven years ago they were costing the national economy $650.6 million or nearly three per cent of the then farm gross domestic product. The main culprits were tractors, ATVs, drownings, utilities and motorcycles. They accounted for half of the fatalities.
“For some years, through our submissions on State Budgets, we have been pressing for this sort of money to address issues of farm safety,” Mr Johnston said.
“At last, we have the response we wanted. This is great news for us and we applaud the State Government on this outstanding initiative.”
TFGA president Wayne Johnston
