Half-arsed and killing farmers
The numbers are horrendous - 14 people killed in agriculture in 2022, five deaths on farms in the first three months of 2023 and 41 farmers lost in the last five years.
How many farmers do you know who can’t point something out to you, or ‘flip you the bird’, because they have lost a finger?
The ‘Half-arsed stops here’ health and safety campaign was launched in the first week of July, just as we had finished putting together this magazine with a special report on health and safety (pg84).
The numbers are horrendous – 14 people killed in agriculture in 2022, five deaths on farms in the first three months of 2023 and 41 farmers lost in the last five years. Injuries are similarly massive – 45,000 injuries to farmers’ backs, fingers, shoulders, and knees in five years and a total of upwards of 22,000 injuries each year.
Farm without harm is an ag industry group asking farmers to take the pledge to work together to stop the hurt. Signing the pledge is the first part so I urge you to do this at farmwithoutharm.org.nz – and I suspect the hard work will come later.
Starting a new conversation, looking at risks, talking about solutions, setting new expectations and then calling out complacency – to stop yourself and your team being half-arsed about safety.
Redesigning workplaces and equipment is the other part of preventing workplace injuries – a new calf trailer, lighter milking cluster and other innovations have the potential to make it safer and easier for people to milk their cows, co-designed by farmers.
We also took an in-depth look at lifting reproduction results in our other special report (pg 68). This is an issue that affects the majority of farmers and requires a multi-pronged approach to solving the issue – not simple, but so worthwhile as it lifts revenue, stops wastage, allows more efficient culling and makes farming more profitable.
Congratulations to Ben and Yvonne, and Hamish Lee from Cannington who won the Dairy Exporter UBCO 2X2 Electric Work Bike giveaway we ran over the past three months.
Their bike will be delivered by UBCO in the next few weeks. Enjoy the quiet and fuel-free ride!
WINNERS
Ben and Yvonne, and Hamish Lee from Cannington in South Canterbury won the Dairy Exporter UBCO 2X2 Electric Work Bike subscription prize giveaway we ran over the past three months.
