2008 Farm Safety Week - 14th - 18th July
2008
On average, the equivalent of a cricket team is killed on
Western Australian farms each year and there are approximately a
'jumbo jet' full of passengers hospitalised each year. Over ¾ of
these hospitalisations occur to males and half of the fatalities
occur to residents of the farm.
Vehicles (including All-Terrain Vehicles), falls and tractors
are the most common causes of traumatic farm fatalities. Farm
machinery and equipment are the major causes of injuries to WA
farmers.
As part of Farm Safety Week, Farmsafe WA Alliance and the
Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety are raising
awareness on the main farm hazards.
Four key health and safety areas have been highlighted this year
(Click on the link to see the information sheet):
1. Tractor
Safety
2. ATV Safety
3. Farm
Machinery Safety
4. Workshop
Safety
To assist farmers and farm workers to reduce the risk of injury
and death caused by these four areas a series of fact sheets, have
been developed. The fact sheets provide area specific health and
safety information and help farmers identify hazards and the action
needed to eliminate or manage the hazard.
To further help farmers and farm
workers a simple one page Farm Safety Basics
Checklist is available. The Farm Safety Basic Checklist again
helps farmers identify potential hazards, prioritise action needed
and establish a timeline for the elimination or management of the
hazard.
To coincide with Farm Safety Week,
Farmsafe Australia has published a new safety guide for farmers,
Farm Machinery Guarding - a practical guide, in which
common guarding problems and solutions are provided. This guide
compliments the already available information booklets, A
practical guide for safe use of ATVs and Small Utility
Vehicles, and Health and Safety in the Farm Workshop: A
practical guide. To download these guides, visit the Farmsafe Australia website.