2008 Farm Safety Week – 14th – 18th  July 2008

On average, the equivalent of a cricket team is killed on Western Australian farms each year and there are approximately a ‘jumbo jet’ full of passengers hospitalised each year. Over ¾ of these hospitalisations occur to males and half of the fatalities occur to residents of the farm.

Vehicles (including All-Terrain Vehicles), falls and tractors are the most common causes of traumatic farm fatalities. Farm machinery and equipment are the major causes of injuries to WA farmers. 

As part of Farm Safety Week, Farmsafe WA Alliance and the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety are raising awareness on the main farm hazards.

Four key health and safety areas have been highlighted this year (Click on the link to see the information sheet):

1. Tractor Safety

2. ATV Safety

3. Farm Machinery Safety

4. Workshop Safety

To assist farmers and farm workers to reduce the risk of injury and death caused by these four areas a series of fact sheets, have been developed. The fact sheets provide area specific health and safety information and help farmers identify hazards and the action needed to eliminate or manage the hazard.

To further help farmers and farm workers a simple one page Farm Safety Basics Checklist is available. The Farm Safety Basic Checklist again helps farmers identify potential hazards, prioritise action needed and establish a timeline for the elimination or management of the hazard.

To coincide with Farm Safety Week, Farmsafe Australia has published a new safety guide for farmers, Farm Machinery Guarding – a practical guide, in which common guarding problems and solutions are provided. This guide compliments the already available information booklets, A practical guide for safe use of ATVs and Small Utility Vehicles, and Health and Safety in the Farm Workshop: A practical guide. To download these guides, visit the Farmsafe Australia website.