Farmers: What’s your plan if someone in your family or among your staff tests positive for COVID-19? As COVID-19 vaccination rates build and New Zealand begins to transition to coping with the disease without lockdowns and less reliance on managed isolation facilities, the agri-sector and Ministry for Primary Industries have been working together to ensure […]
health and safety
Sunsmart farming, is smart farming
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Melanoma New Zealand campaign to save farmers’ lives from skin cancer. The annual campaign for this year ‘Get Spotted’ has just wrapped up, but the Melanoma New Zealand quest to see zero lives lost in New Zealand from melanoma goes on. Federated Farmers vice president and Wairarapa […]
Sunsmart farming, is smart farming
Federated Farmers wants to remind farmers and growers this is a good time to be thinking about getting “sunsmart” for summer. More than 4000 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year, accounting for 80% of skin cancer deaths in New Zealand. It has been estimated up to 25% of farmers and growers have had a […]
Top shots capture on-farm safety theme
Federated Farmers launched a safety awareness campaign at the start of September to try to avoid a spike of on-farm fatalities in spring such as occurred last year. Vice-president and healthy and safety spokesperson for Federated Farmers, Karen Williams, was determined to engage with rural New Zealand and encourage safe practices. The safety on-farm photo […]
Safety first for on-farm photo competition
This time last year New Zealand lost five people in on-farm workplace accidents. We can’t let that happen again this year. Federated Farmers and our strategic partner Yamaha have teamed up to put together a photo competition to remind farmers, growers and their families how important it is to take care at work, in winter, […]
Feds backs the butcher, the baker, and the greengrocer – again
Federated Farmers says the government needs to reconsider and let small business fresh food sellers stay open under level 4. Last year Federated Farmers national president Andrew Hoggard was vocal about Feds’ position. “We pleaded for common sense to prevail, we have had over one year to sort this out – yet it is not.” New […]
Spotlight on rail safety for rural workers and animals
Raising rail safety awareness in rural New Zealand is the focus of a campaign launched by KiwiRail as part of Rail Safety Week this month. New research reveals more than three quarters of serious vehicle collisions with trains occur in provincial towns and rural areas with fewer than 75,000 people. Farmers and rural workers are […]
200 exemptions for dairy workers – token at best
I have been working behind the scenes and in the media around staff shortages and reuniting families of our migrant staff in my sector. I do this because I see it as part of my responsibility I choose to take on as sharemilker Chair for Southland Federated Farmers, trying to get the government to see […]
WorkSafe warns of spring fatalities spike
WorkSafe is giving farmers a heads up to be mindful of risks on farm this spring. In spring 2020, fatalities spiked to five during the months of August and September. Vehicles continue to be the primary source of harm in on farm fatalities. On Monday this week a person was tragically killed in an incident […]
New project to improve on-farm health and safety
A new DairyNZ and ACC project is looking at improving the health and safety of farmers, by reducing the occurrence of sprains and strains on-farm. The Reducing Sprains and Strains project is designed to develop solutions which support a sector-wide reduction in sprains and strains by 2030. DairyNZ general manager farm performance Sharon Morrell says […]