Safer Farms a personal responsibility

Safer Farms a personal responsibility

Speech by Peter Jex-Blake, Federated Farmers Gisborne/Wairoa provincial president to the SaferFarmslaunch at Wairakaia Station, Muriwai

First of all I would like to congratulate WorkSafe on the Safer Farms initiative. Improving farmer awareness and understanding of risks involved, along with education on how these risks can be minimised and or managed, is a far more effective approach than dishing out heavy handed fines which are totally disproportionate to the offence committed, and create much antagonism towards the regulators.

By nature, farmers are individuals who strongly believe in personal responsibility rather than having 'big brother' telling them what to do, and have an inherent intolerance for bureaucracy and attending to endless compliance documents. Family farms are still the backbone of the New Zealand economy, and often are run solely by family members. Farmers do what they do because they enjoy the lifestyle the business provides. It enables the family to be involved in the business. It is a challenging, demanding and complex business, so attending to increasing compliance and filling out of forms is not something that most farmers enthuse over, and does take away some of the enjoyment factor.

I say this not as an excuse for the poor safety record the statistics show, but to provide some understanding as to why it might be so difficult to get farmers on board with regard to improving health and safety in the workplace. Given that the average age of sheep and beef farmers is around 58, it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Frighteningly enough, I am in this bracket, and it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I was brought up in an era that if I were to be seen applying sunscreen lotion, the question would be asked what sort of a man are you?, let alone if you wore gloves or protective clothing. Getting bucked off and kicked by a horse was regarded as just part of the learning process and part of being a bloke....you just got straight back on and got on with the job in hand.....and now we are expected to go off and enter it as a near miss in an accident register and discuss how to minimise this hazard in the future.... many horses would have been shot in todays world.

But alas..... most of us are still alive to this day amazingly enough.

Some of us are slow learners, but with the right approach, it may be possible to get used to the idea that wearing an uncomfortable helmet might feel awkward, but is accepted as being the norm for riding a quad.

On a more serious note though, any initiative that saves lives should be strongly supported. I personally endorse the Safer Farms programme and feel that it will go a long way to changing farmers attitudes to health and safety. Education and awareness is the key. The Gisborne Wairoa province Federated Farmers has already held some community meetings with the local WorkSafe officer Charlene Donald last year with good turnouts.

While many farmers, myself included, disagree with some of the interpretations of the Act, like the carrying of pillion passengers, most farmers I feel, are becoming more aware of health and safety issues in their workplace.

Not to mention an elevated awareness which occurs when someone in a community has a serious accident. Having been close to a recent quad accident which resulted in serious pelvic injuries, it could have been worse, but the impact of such an event is wide reaching.

Like any major accident, life for the person involved and for their family, changes in an instant. For some, the change is permanent....in this case luckily; it won't be ....apart for a change in attitude towards safe practice around operating a quad....maybe! A farm doesn't stop just because someone is hurt. Communities offer a huge amount of support in times of need, and this event was no exception, with many community members and friends rallying to carry on with farm activities, fill fridges and freezers with a constant flow of goodies....so the consequences of accidents are far reaching.

My own father was killed in a tractor accident nearly 15 years ago doing a simple daily job, feeding out to his deer. A family’s worst nightmare. So yes, farming can be a dangerous occupation, yet most of us do not see it that way, and nor should we, provided that we take the necessary precautions and are aware of the risks involved. As is often said, in most cases, it is not the workplace which is dangerous...it is the people who are the biggest risk to themselves.

So how do we change our attitudes to health and safety?

Raising awareness and education are the key. Banging on about helmets and pillion passengers does nothing more than create antagonism. Maybe the stats show otherwise, but from what I see and read in this region, most vehicle related injuries are crush injuries caused by rollovers.

So the more educated we become on the operation of farm vehicles and farm machinery through attending FarmSafe courses, and being aware of the risks and hazards, the safer we should become. farmers need to be empowered to make their own judgement call ....the farm workplace is a constantly changing environment...dry one day, wet the next, wet slippery pasture early morning, so personal judgement can not be exchanged for a rigid set of rules to be complied with.

With improved awareness and education, conversations around safety will become more prevalent. We need to make the language around health and safety more user friendly. Telling a farmer that he must have regular health and safety meetings and keep minutes is sure to get the roll your eyes look, compared to suggesting that having a chat at smoko or lunch about any issues or new hazards, near misses, and making a note in the farm diary of the conversation.

As we become more tuned in to farm safety, we are more likely to make it part of the conversation as we go about our daily tasks.....like, just be careful, that track can be a bit slippery with a heavy dew, it may be safer to take the other route, or be aware of that mob of bulls, there is one that is a bit stroppy, and such like.

I can only reiterate that this sort of approach will be far more effective than dishing out fines. There is no point in trying to enforce rules which will have little significant impact on the overall accident rate and getting the backs up of everyone. Farmers will be receptive to a phone call along the lines, I am in your area today, would you like me to call in and go over your health and safety policy with you, rather than, I will be at your farm at 2pm to do an audit.

What we are talking about is a change in culture....a 100 year culture, where farmers were taught to have no fear, be tough, give it a go. A farm was not the place for wisses who slapped sunscreen lotion all over their bodies, wore helmets to work, and wore gloves to prevent getting scratched. So it will require a change in mindset which will take a while, but with the right approach, we will get there.

ends

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