Making your farm a safer workplace

Suggestions for making your farm a safer place to work include:

• Regularly walk around your farm and assess potential dangers.
• Consult with farm safety advisers from the Victorian WorkCover Authority – they may provide free consultations.
• Create a safe and contained play area for young children close to the house.
• Make sure everyone working on the farm is properly educated on farm risks and trained in first aid.
• Keep all equipment in good repair.
• Store dangerous items such as machinery and chemicals behind locked doors and remove keys.
• Devise ways to improve safety, such as fitting roll-over protection (ROPS) and seatbelts to tractors or replacing dangerous chemicals with less toxic varieties.
• Keep a log of injuries and near-misses to pinpoint areas for improvement.
• Consult with other workers and family members on how to improve safety.
• Write a safety plan together that includes ways to identify the hazards and minimise potential risks.
• Always use appropriate safety equipment, such as gloves, goggles or breathing apparatus.
• Make sure everyone understands and uses safety procedures, especially children.

Draw up an emergency plan
An emergency plan is vital. Some suggestions include:

• Ensure easy access to a suitable and well-stocked first aid kit.
• Make sure at least one person on the farm is trained in first aid.
• Keep emergency numbers and correct addresses next to the telephone.
• Plan routes to the nearest hospital.
• Regularly talk through your emergency plan with your family and other workers.
• Make sure your children understand what to do in an emergency.

Professional health and safety services
There are many organisations that can offer valuable advice on improving health and safety on your farm:

• WorkSafe Victoria has farm safety advisers and a comprehensive collection of publications covering health, safety and compensation issues.
• The Victorian Farm Safety Centre at the University of Ballarat runs a ‘Managing Farm Safety’ course.
• Farmsafe Australia and the Department of Primary Industries also offer information on safe operation of tractors and other farm machinery