Farm machinery is major cause of accidental injury and death on Australian farms, and a series of reports from the Farm Health and Safety Joint Research Venture have identified areas of risk and ways of avoiding accidents for a range of specific items of farm machinery.

“Nearly every person from rural Australia has experienced the trauma of a death, a serious injury or a close call, either to himself, a co-worker, or a close friend or relative,” said Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Managing Director Dr Peter O’Brien.

“Farm machinery is often involved, and the research shows that machines are associated with around 17% of fatalities on farms, excluding transport accidents,” he said.

“Rollover by tractors, grain and feed augers, tractor power take-off (PTO) shafts, and posthole diggers have been identified as common agents in serious accidents on farms.”

The reports identify these machines’ inherent risks, and offer recommendations for improvements to their use, including safety measures to be put in place by individual farm businesses; safety considerations for designers, manufacturers and distributors of machinery; and strategies and regulatory approaches to be put in place by the relevant authorities.

In all cases, being aware of the risk of accidental injury or fatality is a starting point for making work involving farm machinery safer. Safety information should be promoted by farm managers, machinery suppliers, and relevant national, state and local authorities.

Tractors are the single machine most commonly associated with accidental death or injury on farms. Between 1989 and 1992, tractors accounted 87 out of 131 machinery-related death on farms. Between 1994 and 2000, tractors accounted for 719 out of 1,910 worker’s compensation claims relating to injuries involving mobile farm machinery.

“The report on tractor safety, Farm Machinery Injury: Injury Involving Tractor Run-Over, recommends that a cost-rebate scheme be instituted for farmers fitting safe access systems to older model tractors, as part of move to have all tractors retrofitted with rollover protection structures (ROPs) and seat belts,” said Jane Fisher,
Senior Research Manager for the Farm Health and Safety Joint Research Venture.

“Safety initiatives should include far-reaching awareness campaigns and safety-education programs, prioritising traditional farm businesses as well as hobby farmers and part-time farmers,” she said.

The research has been conducted by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety at Moree, and was funded by the Farm Health and Safety Joint Research Venture. The Venture is a collaborative initiative managed by the RIRDC, with partners the Grains Research and Development Corporation, Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Wool Innovation Corporation, Cotton R&D Corporation, Sugar R&D Corporation.

The Venture coordinates and supports R&D to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate safe systems of work on farms across all rural industries; and works closely with Farmsafe Australia, the national peak body for farm safety issues, to ensure that relevant industry-guided research is provided to underpin safety strategies at a national, state and industry level.

The Farm Machinery Injury series includes: Injury Involving Tractor Run-Over, Injuries Associated with Grain Augers in Australia, Injuries Associated with Posthole Diggers, and Power Take-Off Shaft Guards. The reports are available from RIRDC – call 02 6272 4819 or visit www.rirdc.gov.au/fullreports/hcc.html. For more information on the Farm Health and Safety Joint Research Venture visit www.rirdc.gov.au/farmhealth

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Media inquiries:  Martin Field – 02 6272 4735