School of Medical and Health Sciences

Agriculture safety

The fatality rate in the agriculture sector is nine times higher than the average rate across all other industries in Australia, according to Western Australia's Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, yet few resources are available to assist the industry in breaching this safety gap.

What are the issues?

In brief: More workers are killed in agriculture than any other industry in Australia.  There are effective tools and resources which prevent injuries.  There is a lack of coordinated resources.

In detail: Safety performance, which is measured using the occupational injury rate, in the agriculture industry is the poorest in the nation.   If people accept that injuries are going to happen, then it is more likely they will (WA Inquiry, 2023).  One of the ways to improve safety performance is to say that we do not accept injuries, and we will work towards preventing them.  In this project, we are going to work together to prevent injuries.

What needs to be done?

In brief:  Co-ordinated grass roots action in partnership with farmers to provide resources from other industries and countries to stop farming fatalities.

In detail:  See this summary of the proposal.  We have "silos"!  In each State and agriculture sector there are great things going on to improve safety.  There are also researchers, service providers and government agencies all working towards improving safety.   But progress is slow, and that means people are getting hurt and sometimes fatally, and they don't need to.  In this project will bring together a community of people across Australia who want to work together, who want to share ideas, who see the benefit in collaboration.

Who can get involved?

In brief:  Farmers and agriculture workers; researchers; community members and associations, service providers; government agencies.

In detail:  In this project we will create a community of people who want to improve safety in agriculture.  We need farmers, farm workers and people in agriculture, researchers, service providers and representatives from government.

What are we going to do?

In brief: Discuss the issues we have which cause injuries, and, make available ways to prevent them.

In detail: See this summary video. We are going to create a community of people across Australia, which will listen to people who work in agriculture, to design better ways to work (i.e. without people at risk of harm).  We will collate ideas and resources from across Australia and elsewhere on a community platform.  We will monitor these resources and make improvements, so they work for farmers.

What will this do?

In brief: Provide farmers with fit for farming techniques to prevent fatalities, and injuries.

In detail:  We want farmers to have access to 'packages', developed with farmers for farmers, which show them how to prevent worker fatalities.  There are several outcomes which aim to improve safety in agriculture;  projects to improve safety performance, collaboration across the industry, information and reports to inform policy.

What can I do now?

In brief: Volunteer, by filling in this form (click here)

In detail: We are looking for community members to contribute their experience and expertise to support this venture.  Can you spare a couple of hours to help improve safety in the agriculture industry?  Please register!  We will be in touch with an update to progress!

Yes, we do need funding to!

Do you want the naming rights for this new centre?  Do you want to be a driving force in safety improvement across Australian agriculture?  To make all this happen, we are applying for some government funding which requires industry sponsorship and in-kind community support from the those who are the beneficiaries of this work.  Contact Marcus  for more information about sponsorship!

Click here to register

Please spread the word!

This project will only happen if we get enough people and sponsorship!

This project is being led by Marcus Cattani.  Please email (m.cattani@ecu.edu.au) or contact him if you would like to discuss it!