Rural Industry Action Plan released

There is no hiding the fact that the rural industry continues to suffer the highest fatality rate and the third highest injury rate of all industries.

This is due to the nature of the hazards and risks found in the industry including physical labour, working with animals, and heavy use of plant and machinery.

Whichever way you look at it too many workers and self-employed farmers in the rural industry are being injured or killed as a result of work-related incidents and disease.

These statistics are a major concern for the Queensland Government. Reducing them is one of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s priorities and the focus of new initiatives in the Rural Industry Action Plan for 2008–10.

Initiatives in the Rural Industry Action Plan for 2008–10 aim to reduce injuries associated with:

farm vehicles, elevating work platforms, picking ladders, knives and the disease Leptospirosis in the fruit growing sector
fixed plant and slips, trips and falls in vegetable packing operations
inadequate yard maintenance and design, and lack of worker training in beef cattle handling in yards
using all terrain vehicles and high risk plant.

Initiatives include:

on-property workshops to improve uptake of safe systems of work that support risk management particularly in cattle and horticulture industries
workforce profiling to identify links between injuries and skill levels
work assessment of tasks in banana harvesting, vegetable harvesting and packing, and cattle handling that result in a high incidence of musculoskeletal disorder and trauma, for which there are no obvious safer alternatives
professional development aimed at increasing the department’s capability to assist industry in the area of musculoskeletal disorders
investigating the feasibility of introducing workplace health and safety induction training.

To order a hardcopy of the Rural Industry Action Plan for 2008-10 call 1300 369 915.

Table of contents | Leptospirosis