Industry and government figures urge vigilance in Farm Safety Week

The member for Northern Victoria Region, who grew up on a fruit and flower farm, has added her voice to those calling for greater awareness of risk, especially around tractors and quad bikes.

Her background gave her an understanding of the "multiple safety risks faced by primary producers" and the vigilance needed to maintain the health and wellbeing of everyone involved with properties, Ms Broad said.

Statistics revealed Australian farms were the country's most dangerous workplaces, she said, with 55 people tragically losing their life on them last year and farm machinery accidents involving tractors and quad bikes making up 40 per cent of all fatalities.

"Given the importance of the work farmers do, promoting safety, assessing risk, identifying, and talking about the dangers of farm work is an important conversation worth having," she said.

Peak agricultural bodies have also been having that conversation this week, as figures show an increase in fatalities.

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New data from Farm Safe Australia showed the figure of 55 deaths last year - which compared to 44 in 2021.

Some 64 per cent of the deaths were linked to farm vehicles or mobile farm machinery, Farm Safe said.

In Victoria, 11 deaths were recorded on farm in 2022, with another 11 incidents where non-fatal injuries were recorded.

Victorian government figures showed a further 597 people received workers compensation last year after seriously injuring themselves on a farm.

In the first half of 2023, the state recorded six deaths and six non-fatal injuries on-farm.

The deaths are highlighted in the group's Safer Farms report, which was released on Sunday to mark National Farm Safety Week.

Farm Safe Australia chair Felicity Richards said a lot of work still needed to be done to get to the goal of zero deaths, and reducing deaths associated with tractors and machinery was a high priority.

"The focus over the last five years on quad bikes, and the introduction of mandatory operation protection devices (OPDs), have brought a huge amount of awareness of the risks to the usage of those machines," she said.

"It's meant there's been a lot of work across the country and with industry bodies to raise awareness too, whether it be wearing the correct personal protective equipment or the installation of OPDs.

"While there has been some focus on tractors, I'm not sure our focus has been there, so it is saddening to see tractors continuing to be a very-high proportion of the agents of fatality in 2022."

However, safety initiatives introduced over time had dramatically improved outcomes.

In the early 1980s, Australia was averaging 24 tractor rollover deaths a year and by 2004 that number was down to six.

The introduction of 1981 of driver protection standards has been credited for that reduction.

The Victorian Farmers Federation welcomed continued funding support from the Victorian government for its Making our Farms Safe project.

VFF President Emma Germano said the project's immediate focus would be farmers aged 60 years and over to help lower their overrepresentation in deaths and injuries.

Children on farms aged between 10 and 15 had been the focus of a previous campaign, with that initiative having a significant impact in changing attitudes, Ms Germano said.

Farm Safety Week 2023 runs until Sunday, July 23.

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