Words by: Harriet Bremner
When the words ‘Health and Safety’ are even so much as whispered with any relevance to agriculture in New Zealand, it is followed by eye-rolls, sighs, a huff or two and a lecture from someone about the nonsense that it is.
Why? Because we have been led to believe Health and Safety is merely a bureaucratic paper war full of corporate-driven ideas and beliefs. Health and Safety started in factories where everything is the same every day. That kind of paperwork doesn’t work in dynamic environments where factors are changeable daily. This is where Health and Safety in farming requires people, first and foremost to ‘think’ and make well-informed decisions in a moment in time.
We currently believe that as long as we have a shiny folder hiding in the filing cabinet, a helmet tied to the front of our bike and a high vis vest… somewhere, that we are nailing health and safety.
This is not what should drive us to be safe. What is the real reason we need to farm safely?
It’s to make sure that people go home alive at the end of the day to eat dinner with their families.
We want people to go to work, enjoy their day and simply not get hurt or die while they are there. This comes down to practical decision making, efficient farming practices and good communication between people who are involved in working on the farm.
Imagine, saying goodbye to the person you love and watching them head out the door to work. You say “see you tonight” but they never come back because they lose their life in a farming accident.
What happens next is a turmoil of events that put you through the wringer, you don’t know what way is up or down and you have to restart your life again. This is not something we want anyone to deal with, ever.
What happens next is a turmoil of events that put you through the wringer, you don’t know what way is up or down and you have to restart your life again. This is not something we want anyone to deal with, ever.
There is the theory in our country and communities that ‘she’ll be right’ and ‘it’ll never happen to me’. This is complete nonsense. It’s good luck rather than good management that your near misses have only been that to date. There can be a time when a near miss becomes so much more than that and it becomes your front row at your funeral the following week.
This is possibly gaining another eye-roll or two from readers but this is the harsh reality of life, accidents happen and not intentionally. We do things right most of the time but sometimes things go wrong for a number of reasons.
We need to take responsibility for health and safety from a different perspective to change the stigma that currently hangs over it. Think to yourself… why are you doing your health and safety at the moment? If the answer is anything other than to ensure your people don’t get hurt or die at work then you have your priorities muddled.
People are what we should be putting first and this comes back to ensuring their mental health and wellbeing are intact and how skilled and educated they are to do required jobs.
Have conversations with your people, regular chats, a yarn. Find out what they feel comfortable with and not so good about. Are you an approachable employer or do you feel able to approach your boss when something feels beyond your capability?
These factors can all add up to form either a disaster waiting to happen or a successful day at the office. Are your people getting enough sleep? Do they have a good diet? Are they drinking water on the tractor or multiple cans of V? Do they know ‘their’ machine well that they are driving? Are they in charge of the vehicle themselves? The feeling of ownership can empower people to be more inclined to make sure they know everything about what they are driving.
At the end of the day… having shiny paperwork isn’t going to stop someone from stepping over an uncovered PTO shaft – this is an active decision of the person at the time, at that moment.
We must empower people to make greater choices every day while they are at work.
So, have a think about it… what is your health and safety WHY?
