Tendencias

Young children are not permitted in any of the work areas. Visiting children are supervised at all times by their parents. The swimming pool has a safety fence surrounding it. When my children were young a confinement compound was created, because of the number of dams on the property and other dangers near the house. The children were taught to swim as infants.

“Of the 21 farm fatalities of children under 15 years in Victoria 1992-1999 drowning accounted for 6.”

(Coroners Facilitation System, Victorian Workcover Authority)

One of those six was my neighbour’s child. Two other children drowned in the1980’s were also on neighbours’ farms and all of these drownings were the catalyst for increased vigilance and the development of the safety protocol around water.

Livestock hazards:

Again, young children are not permitted in any of the work areas. Visiting children are the responsibility of their parents and are required to be supervised at all times by them. When buying bulls for breeding, only animals with quiet temperaments are chosen as well as only purchasing poll animals. Again all staff are allocated work according to their experiences, and when working with cattle people don’t work alone. Three fatalities have occurred in the last four years in the Hamilton area from cattle attacking lone workers. Good handling facilities are maintained for a safer work place. I had been injured a number of times through misadventures with cattle. On one occasion I was very badly injured and without the assistance of a fellow worker who organized my hospitalization I most likely would not be writing this paper. An experience such as this clearly influenced my policy in this area for Bally Glunin Park.

Chemical risks:

All staff members are trained through accredited Farm Chemical Users Courses, and all chemicals are stored appropriately. When requiring chemicals they are assessed for their need and brought at the lowest level of activity that will do the job. Only chemicals with batch numbers and use by dates on containers are purchased, and always brought with long shelf life. Only accredited contractors are used and when only small volumes from large containers are required contractors generally provide the chemical under the same conditions of current use by dates and batch numbers. This process reduces the stock piling of chemicals. Animal health chemicals are regularly tested for efficiency. Operators are instructed in the proper procedures for application. The right equipment is provided for the job as well as the proper protective equipment and poison antidote. All staff members are required to read MSDS when new products are introduced to the program and instruction is given when beginning a new practice for the season. (Appendix 10 Chemical storage)

Explosives:

Only small arms are required for vermin and humane work. As a result of a review by David Rich and Andrew Sullivan for their studies in Occupational Health and Safety management Systems AS 4801:2000, it was identified that I was the only licensed firearm operator. If I was away then firearms could not be used, so all staff attended the required firearm safety programs and became licensed firearm operators. All firearms are stored in appropriate locked cabinets as is the

ammunition and staff are instructed in the proper way of humanely putting down livestock.

Zoonoses:

Over many years working in the agriculture industry you come into contact with various diseases. The most respected text for reading about diseases in livestock and their effect on humans is Diseases of Livestock T. G. Hungerford B.V.Sc., H. D.A. From extensive reading of this book I developed my policy on dealing with animal diseases.

We manage disease by removing infected animals, vaccinating against infection and practicing good personal hygiene. All staff are provided with an array of personal safety equipment and a variety of gloves such as light disposable single use for noxious use (marking or lamb delivery), rubber gloves for wet use, long sleeves rubber gloves for chemical use and handling noxious livestock, light rigger gloves for general purpose use and heavy duty leather gloves for heavy manual and handling sharp materials.

Element exposure:

Flexibility with working hours during extremes of weather conditions particularly during electrical storms reduces the risks of injuries. This decision was made as a result of losing an acquaintance from lighting strike. He was killed when lighting struck him whilst playing hockey at Hamilton. A number of other players were injured. Early starts and early finishes during peak summer days also reduce risk. Proper clothing and “slip, slop, slap” is practiced as recommended by the anti-cancer council, and from personal experience. The property provides sunscreen and hot and cold clean water as well as hot and cold showers. Rest periods are more frequent on extremely hot days.

Manual handling:

Most manual tasks are assisted with mechanical equipment. Staff are encouraged to decide on their own capabilities and lift sharing. Equipment is generally supported with wheel attachments for easy movement.

Human error:

We all make mistakes but with proper training, good safe equipment and working in good teams, injuries will be minimal. In some situations good mechanical safety devices can over-ride the human element. An RCD is one device that will over-ride the human element. Near miss

accidents are used as learning experiences and opportunities to remove risk. Where people do not respond favourably to the safety protocols on Bally Glunin Park, they are no longer employed regardless of whether they are staff or contractors.

The concept of developing a safer farm is never static and as work practices change the safety protocols must be reviewed as well. Although Bally Glunin Park operates under the recognized audit system SafetyMAP other audits take place periodically and through quite different system approaches. I consider these audits a valuable tool for fine-tuning the system.

One such audit was, Evaluation of Farm Injury Prevention in Victoria, involving a survey (2001) of Farm Owner/Manager and conducted by Monash University Accident Research Centre.

www.general.monash.sdu.au/muarc The project was funded by RIRDC. Through this project I was able to compare my work against a random sample. Although this was an extensive report I have reprinted some sections in their entirety because of their particular importance to this work and in assessing my progress in making Bally Glunin Park a very safe farm.