Farming Less Safe Than Mining and Construction

Saturday, 02/12/2023, 09:20(GMT +7)

n Australia, the agriculture sector makes up only 3% of the country’s workforce, however this contributes to 25% of workplace deaths every year, according to SafeWork Australia statistics.

The statistics show agriculture is more dangerous than almost all industries, including working in a construction firm or in the mining industry.  Farmers are quick to point that due to the nature of their work, wherein they are usually exposed to working outdoors and can involve working with heavy machineries and livestock, inherent risks cannot be controlled.

The number of workplace deaths in farming is a far contrast to the mining and construction industry which, despite having a comparable risks and fatalities, the figures have dropped considerably.

Proactive Agricultural Safety and Support (PAS) co-founder Anne Taylor was quick to react that comparing farming with mining or construction is unfair. She said that the two industries are run by large corporations and workers have to follow the safety management of these businesses. She added, “In agriculture most businesses are small family owned businesses and farmers have to be multi-skilled and they have to have those skills on tap every day.”

Taylor also mentioned that people engage in farming are vulnerable since their workplace is also their homes which mean children, visitors and the elderly are also present making the place less predictable. She stressed that unlike in the construction and mining industries, visitors are controlled and are not allowed to loiter around, which is the exact opposite when you are in the farm.

Heather Lawrence, an independent work health and safety consultant said that compared to the two mentioned industries; the agriculture sector is not as reactive when it comes to farm fatalities.“The mining industry had what they considered a totally unacceptable high rate of fatalities, around 35 deaths in 1996,” she added. To improve the safety across the whole industry, the Minerals Council of Australia put up a national occupational health and safety committee, and in 2012 wherein the industry was experiencing employment growth, only five fatalities were recorded.

Ms. Lawrence went on further saying that farms can be controlled in the same way as other industries.

Tim McKenzie, a former Farmsafe Alliance manager, added that farmers need to be educated some more regarding safety issues, and farmers should understand that if a risk exists in their workplace, they must control those risks.


(Source: SafetyCulture)