Farmers, step up and stay safe
Chief executive of WorkSafe
Iwatched in amazement last week a TV item about stock rustling in Northland. Amazed that this was going on. I understand how critical this issue is to those affected. But amazed too that four farmers were filmed for the item riding their quad bikes, with not one wearing a safety helmet or with rollover protection.
I couldn’t help reflecting on my own farming family – if only we cared about ourselves and our families as we do our stock.
And then by Sunday night we had one farmer killed using a quad and another killed using a side-by-side. One incident was reported to involve one quad bike, three people and a trailer.
In the last two months there have been six fatalities in agriculture – three quad or sideby-side deaths, two with utes rolling, and another involving a hay baler. And therein lies the fundamental problem. You know the safety risks on your farm, particularly around vehicles, and you know the way to avoid them, but too many of you are not doing so.
And don’t tell me you don’t know, or that you need more facts before you change. In the two years I have been in this job, the media and communications around safe use of quads, tractors and vehicles on farms has been repetitive and relentless, whether it is the Medical Association strongly advocating no kids under 16 on quad bikes, or coroners asking for a focus on safer vehicles and roll protection, or the numerous stories run around the importance of using quads within manufacturers’ instructions (single quads are for one person), the importance of helmets, seatbelts and training, and the extensive work by ACC, WorkSafe and others to raise awareness of these issues.
It is much easier to say health and safety is about paperwork, rules and compliance than it is to deal with our mindsets, beliefs and practices – the things that really need to change and will make the most difference.
This is about leadership, risk management and care for you, your family and your community. The leadership comes from firstly accepting there is a problem and that you need to change to address it. You may be surprised to know you are not bulletproof and that what you do is no different from many other businesses. Vehicles are used in hazardous locations in many other industries.
You know the safety risks on your farm ... and you know the wayto avoid them, but too many of you are not doing so.
What is different is there isn’t consistent leadership in farming, or focus on wanting to change. There is no outcry from the sector when people die on quad bikes – it is just part of farming, right? Wrong.
Sectors that have focused on reducing risks and therefore harm have not only had innovation and health and safety improvements but performance and outcomes for their sectors have accelerated. In the airline industry, the relentless focus on passenger safety means that more of us can go further, faster and more safely than ever.
This change will only happen when you individually decide to change and put your focus on solutions, not avoidance.
Success for me is not needing to sit at another farmer’s funeral, and it is also not sitting at a funeral for a farmer where the pictures are shown of the farmer on the quad bike and the person next to me starts to cringe and turns to me and says ‘‘Eek, health and safety’’ because they know what they are looking at is wrong and nothing was done to change it.
We are all responsible for health and safety. It is time for the farming sector to speak up and step up.