WestVic Dairy News - February 2011 Edition
Focus your business on farmer health and safety this year.
Morgan Hobin DPI and Helen Chenoweth, DPI Warrnambool
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As the holiday season concludes and many farmers gearing up for the new calving season, it is important to examine how work is being done around the farm. At this “post holiday” time, concentrating on tasks can be more challenging than usual, leading to mistakes and possibly unfortunate accidents.
The most serious and commonly claimed injuries in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector through 2007-2008 included muscular stress due to manual handling or repetitive movement (29 percent); being hit my a moving object (25 percent); and falls, trips and slips (22 percent). Most common injuries leading to fatalities in 2005-2008 included vehicle accidents (45 percent); being hit by falling objects (11 percent); and being trapped by moving machinery (6 percent) (www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au).
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These statistics can be very confronting and all these injuries and accidents can occur on dairy farms, emphasising the need to be extra careful, especially during busy times.
Another issue of farmer health and safety that is often overlooked is having a healthy work-life balance. Work-life balance is the relationship between your work and the commitments in the other areas of your life and how they impact on each other. There is no “right” balance as each person is different and the balance can alter over time as personal situations change.
If you employ staff, there are significant benefits in ensuring that employees achieve a healthy work-life balance such as lower staff absences, attracting skilled and motivated employees (being an employer of choice), increasing employee satisfaction and a more motivated and committed workforce.
A work-life balance benefits the employee by allowing more time to support family, having a more balanced and enjoyable work life, having more time to participate in the community, a greater ability to manage (and feel in control of) their workload, better personal health and less chance of being overworked leading to burnout.
So, achieving a healthy work-life balance will benefit both employer and employee as well as the overall farm business. Managing the everyday jobs around the farm with an enhanced focus on safety will also benefit the people involved in the business as well as the ultimate success of the operation.
For more information on how to achieve a work-life balance either from an employer or employee stand point or to gain useful information on farm health and safety issues, please visit www.safework.sa.gov.au or worksafe.vic.gov.au.
