Farm Safety Improves Through 'Incremental Gain', Says Birkett
Improving health and safety is about incremental gain rather than a sudden decision, says Leeston farmer and Federated Farmers health and safety spokesman David Birkett.
The award recognises his role in maintaining the safety of more than 1600 drivers in 500 tankers travelling more than 90 million kilometres a year.
Fonterra director New Zealand manufacturing Mark Leslie says award is a great tribute to the outstanding work of McColl and his team.
“Barry leads a team who are continually working to make sure everyone gets home safe every day – not just our 1,600 drivers, but also all the other people on our roads,” says Leslie.
“Every step of the way safety is front of mind. From the tankers we purchase, to the training and assessment of our drivers, to the world class technology that helps us to keep track of how both the vehicle and our drivers are performing. Barry has been instrumental in the implementation of all of this and it’s great to see recognition of this.”
Fonterra has one of the largest transport fleets on the road and during the season from August to May tankers work around the clock, seven days a week.
The cooperative also picked up highly commended in the company driver safety award for the work it has done around reducing driver fatigue – the City of Sydney Council took out the top spot.
