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 […]
on-farm safety
A shepherd’s warning
Pink sky in the morning is a shepherds warning, but today I’d like to give a little warning of my own. This time last year in New Zealand we had five deaths on farm. That’s five families that are absolutely heartbroken this year as they are forced to relive the tragic events that struck their […]
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, […]
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 […]
Health and safety, it’s not necessarily something you can call ‘just common sense’
“Working in a rural role but desk-based has really made me reflect on the very different health and safety challenges of being ‘hands on’ on farm,” says Kieran McCahon. Kieran, Waikato/Bay of Plenty FMG Young Farmer of the Year, grew up on his family’s 1000-cow dairy farm on Northland’s Pouto Peninsula, near Dargaville. He gained […]
The job’s always going to be there – getting home safely is the main thing
Working with ANZ’s rural lending team, Taranaki/Manawatu 2021 Young Farmer of the Year Jake Jarman sees real value in good health and safety practices. “In my experience, a farm that makes health and safety a priority is a productive and profitable farm,” he says. Jake’s own health and safety focus began with a solid grounding […]
Growing professionalism driving awareness of health and safety in shearing industry
“Industry campaigns and growing professionalism are driving awareness of health and safety among shearers,” says national FMG Young Farmer of the Year finalist Joseph Watts. Yet, he still sees plenty of room for improvement. Joseph, from Waipukurau, will represent East Coast in the national competition. He began his rural career as a shearer, having completed […]
People can make mistakes, so you need those safeguards in place
Sam Hodsell, the 2021 Otago-Southland FMG Young Farmer of the Year, says it’s critical to identify and manage workplace risks on their farm – but he and his family are also actively putting tangible measures in place to help protect people if someone does make a mistake. “For instance, we’ve recently purchased and had big […]
It’s about having all the basics covered and communicating well
Tasman FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand finalist Roshean Woods comes to the Young Farmer competition from a different background to many of her fellow finalists – but that gives her a range of perspectives, both from having worked on a farm and visiting farms in the course of her work. Roshean, a farm […]
A new way to encourage the use of seat belts
WorkSafe New Zealand has launched a new side-by-side vehicle simulator to try to get the message about wearing seatbelts to click with farmers. Federated Farmers vice president and spokesperson for workplace health and safety Karen Williams and the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood gave the simulator a go at the Wellington demo […]