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.
"There are a lot of misconceptions in the farming community about health and safety, and the role of WorkSafe," says Al McCone, agriculture programme manager at WorkSafe.
"We're aiming to cut through the confusion so farmers can get the facts.
"We've been talking to farmers and listening to their feedback about what they're hearing about health and safety, such as banning quadbikes, banishing kids from the farm and mountains of new paperwork. The good news is - none of that is true."
He says WorkSafe have sorted fact from fiction for the myth-busting series, so farmers can be more clear about what they need to do to keep themselves, their families and workers, healthy and safe.
McCone says many farmers are surprised to hear the claims they've heard are in fact untrue.
"The launch of our farming health and safety campaign, Safer Farms, has sparked some vigorous debate but busting these myths will go a long way to putting some of the rumours to rest so farmers can concentrate on making farms safe and healthy places to work and live."
www.saferfarms.org.nz
