Health and Safety

In this episode, Sheryl Haitana speaks to Louise Gibson and Hamish Pirie. Louise Gibson, Managing Director of The Sharefarming Consultants, provides some great tips and ideas on setting up on a new farm and how to document what’s onfarm at the outset. She also talks about the need for better legal protections, independent audits, and regular communication to build strong farm partnerships between farm owners, contract milkers and sharemilkers.

Hamish Pirie, a seasoned search and rescue volunteer, advocates for farmers to carry personal locator beacons (PLBs) for rapid emergency response, especially in remote areas where phones fail. He highlights the life-saving benefits of keeping a PLB on your person at all times. Together, they offer essential advice on improving farm safety, wellbeing, and working relationships.

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.

Harriet Bremner warns of the dangers of meth use in the dairying industry.

The efforts farmers have put into making their artificial breeding (AB) facilities safer for technicians has had a dramatic effect on reducing injuries, reports Anne Lee.

Peter Moore has a powerful incentive to put health and safety front and centre onfarm. By Anne Lee.