Wools of NZ partners with Asthma & Respiratory Foundation
Wools of New Zealand says it has chosen to partner with the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ in an effort to educate Kiwis around the health benefits of wool carpets.
WorkSafe is warning employers that fatigue from long hours of work must not compromise worker safety.
“Getting the job done is important, but not if the hours required to do it put workers at risk of injury or death,” says WorkSafe deputy general manager, investigations and specialist services, Simon Humphries.
His comments follow the sentencing of agricultural contractor Micheal Vining Contracting Limited in Huntly District Court.
The company was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $80,000 reparation plus $2656 in court costs.
In October 2016, a worker for the company had been assisting with harvesting operations on a farm in Pukekawa. He logged a 16.75 hour day before departing the farm, taking a tractor home in preparation for the next day’s work. At 2.45am he crashed the tractor and died as a result of injuries sustained during the accident.
WorkSafe’s investigation found that the worker had worked 197.25 hours in the two weeks leading up to the incident. Fatigue was identified as the most likely cause of the accident. The worker was also not wearing a seatbelt.
The company had a health and safety document prepared for them in January 2016. It identified fatigue as a high rating hazard and outlined management steps including the monitoring of work hours and break times.
“This document had not been reviewed or implemented,” Humphries says. “The warning was there and the company did nothing about it”.
“Seasonal work and tasks like harvest can put a huge amount of pressure on everyone involved. Managing the risks is essential. The life, health and wellbeing of your workers must be your number one priority”.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.