Farm safety is a hot topic

She wanted to fill gaps she had identified in the agricultural sector in occupational health and safety and human resources management.

Renee said her focus was on creating workplaces that protect people, and emphasised that safety on farms is a leadership issue.

“Safety culture has to be modelled from the top down,” she said.

“Management must follow the same safety rules as their workers and visitors to the farm.

“It’s hard for workers to maintain consistent safety practices when leadership doesn’t model the desired behaviours.

“We see a lot of clients. Those who have efficient teams that they actually build, have that strong safety culture from management down.”

Some of the key takeaways for conference attendees included ensuring a proper induction into safety practices and regular team meetings with safety as a dedicated topic.

Renee said a proper induction into farm practices was one that occurred over time, and she suggested a range of tools to achieve this — including assigning a buddy to the new employee, regular check-ins with them by management to ensure their understanding of workplace practices, and asking for their feedback over the time of their induction.

“An induction should occur over time, rather than overwhelming the employee with information by cramming everything into their first two days,” she said.

“Ideally, induction should occur over the employee’s first month. It includes site tours and demonstrations of procedures specific to that farm workplace.”

Renee also recommended varying induction and training for multicultural workforces, where language barriers may exist. She discussed using videos and photos to support varying learning styles.

Regular team meetings were essential, with safety as a dedicated topic to discuss, and management open to feedback. In the same way, regular one-on-one meetings between the manager and workers can reveal issues that were not apparent.

“Communication and consultation are absolutely key, particularly in the safety space.

“When you consult with people, and you give them input and ownership, they suddenly feel a sense of accountability to farm safety.

“Creating that opportunity for half an hour, once a month, is just so important for everybody to be on the same page.

“Having regular one-on-one meetings with staff members enables you to ask and actually hear their responses to questions like ‘how are you going?’ ‘Any challenges?’”

These discussions can also highlight training needs among the work team.

Renee also encouraged the dairy farmers attending the conference to conduct inductions into workplace safety for visitors to the farm, including industry representatives, contractors, delivery drivers and extended family and friends.

“Farmers don’t set aside the time because they don’t perceive any risk to people who are only on the farm for a short period. But the farm is a workplace, and it contains many risks.”

She encourages farmers to begin developing safety resources and documentation, even if they are imperfect.

“Imperfect safety measures are better than none at all,” Renee said.

“Create hazard maps and display them prominently. Require everyone to sign on and off, including all visitors. Even a basic to-do list acknowledging issues is a valuable resource.”

A to-do list gives the farmers and management a basis for developing improved procedures and adapting safety principles into existing processes.

Renee recommended using resources from Dairy Australia and WorkSafe, rather than creating everything from scratch.

If an incident does occur, it was important to document it, and be aware of any legal complications such as preserving the scene.

“Written evidence is essential if an incident does occur. Have a procedure for immediate response that everyone knows.”

That procedure should include calling emergency services, contacting the farm’s safety adviser if applicable, reporting directly to WorkSafe, documenting the incident thoroughly, and preserving the incident site for investigation.

Renee said it was important to document near misses as well as actual incidents.

“Near misses aren’t just lucky escapes, they’re actually important warnings,” she said.

“You can use these as learning opportunities to prevent future incidents. Dangerous incidents should be documented, even if no-one is hurt.”

Renee encouraged farmers to use electronic means to complement their safety procedures.

That could include a shared WhatsApp or other digital platform where incidents and safety issues can be immediately shared among users, for follow-up action.

Renee also recommended considering media management for serious incidences that occur on the farm.