Redes Electrónicas de Comunicación (ECN)

The mission of Farmsafe Australia is to improve the well being and productivity of Australian agriculture through enhanced health and safety awareness and practices. The key strategies and programs that Farmsafe Australia undertakes include:

• Community development approaches to develop a culture of safety in farming communities across Australia;

• Development of evidence based resources for education and training of farmers, farm families, health workers and service providers;

• Definition of OHS training competency standards for all rural industries and inclusion within the vocational training competency standards;

• Piloting and delivery of commodity specific versions of an OHS risk management based Managing Farm Safety course for farmers and farm managers, organized by a network of state Farm Safety Training centres and coordinated by the National Farm Safety Training Centre;

• Implementation of a planned program of research and development through the

establishment by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) of a Farm health and Safety Joint Research Venture of rural research and development corporations; (I have had an association with RIRDC in a number of areas involving farm safety and also through the research project that provided the data for Chapter 4.)

• Maintenance of a National Farm Injury Data Centre that assembles and supplies the available data to set priorities and agendas;

• Examination and review of pertinent legislation in relation to its effectiveness in agriculture;

• Development of strategies addressing specific issues –tractor safety, farm machinery safety, child safety on farms and hearing conservation.

I have worked with Farm Safe Australia in accessing their child safety material and circulating their publications to the appropriate learning centres in the district. I have also promoted and installed the “Safety Access Platform’’ for tractors on a number of my own tractors for demonstration and safety purposes, this is another initiative from Farm Safe Australia:

• Examination of a range of other health issues by the Farmsafe Australia Health Reference Group – an extension of the Farmsafe Australia partnership with rural health service providers, including the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, the Australian Divisions of General Practice and others;

• Development of a network of farmers with disability- the AgrAbility Australia network, and delivery of a Return to Work on the farm course for rehabilitation service providers. (www.farmsafe.org.au)

NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY COMMISSION (NOHSC)

The mission of the National Occupational Health & Safety Commission is to lead and co- ordinate national efforts to prevent or reduce the incidence and severity of occupational injury and disease by providing healthy and safe working environments. The National Commission was established under the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission Act 1985 (Cwlth) to provide a national focus for occupational health and safety (OHS). The National Commission is a forum of government, employer and

employee and employer representatives: providing national leadership on prevention, and facilitating through its representatives, the implementation of better approaches to

achieving improved health and safety outcomes in workplaces. It supports and adds value to efforts in all jurisdictions to tailor approaches to the improvement of workplace

occupation health and safety. It also supports efforts to develop efficient ways for jurisdictions, employers and employees to meet their workplace health and safety

obligations and ensures standards and codes of practice are developed only where there is a demonstrated need and where they further the goals of simplicity and clarity in

regulation.

(National Occupation Health and Safety Commission. www.worksafe.gov.au)

(The function of NOHSC has changed over the period of this research but has been included in this way because the early involvement that I had was in this function)

NOHSC was associated with the research on child deaths presented in Chapter 8. NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL of AUSTRALIA (NSCA)

NSCA is Australia’s leading provider of occupational health and safety solutions for business. Clients operating in environments ranging from heavy industrial to office-based have used NSCA consultancy and training services to establish and continuously improve their OHS management systems and to drive their safety performance.

(National Safety Council of Australia www.nsca.org.au) In Chapter 10 I refer to my involvement with the NSCA.

2. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES

• Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety Moree NSW

• VIOSH Australia; Victorian Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, University of Ballarat

• Victorian Farm Safety Centre, Ballarat

AUSTRALIAN CENTRE for AGRICULTURAL HEALTH and SAFETY MOREE NSW Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety is a research centre working principally to improve standards and safety in rural Australia. It also houses the national catalogues of state and industry based OH&S data, as well as the National Children’s Centre for Rural and Agriculture Health. Farmsafe Australia also resides in the same complex.

VICTORIAN INSTITUTE for OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and HEALTH (VIOSH) VIOSH Australia provides high quality undergraduate, accredited postgraduate and industry focused occupational health and safety (OH&S) courses. VIOSH Australia encourages the inclusion of OH&S within all undergraduate courses and is striving to establish it as an integral part of management activities. VIOSH Australia conducts short courses and seminars for various organisations and enterprises on a contract basis. The consultancy activities of VIOSH have primarily focused on providing OH&S management auditing and advisory services for many high-profile organisations across a diverse range of industry groups.

My association with VIOSH is through the committee of the Victorian Farm Safety Centre and my support of the BROSH (Ballarat Regional Occupation Safety and Health) Awards where my agricultural apprentices summit their solutions for OH&S problems.