Rural Industry Action Plan initiatives
The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) Rural Industry Action Plan 2008-10 (the Plan) was launched in May 2008.
The Plan details strategies to increase the awareness of hazards and risks to health and safety in rural workplaces and to improve knowledge, education and skills in managing workplace health and safety.
The Plan describes initiatives WHSQ will implement through stakeholder participation to improve workplace health and safety performance, including:
- working with industry to develop industry specific education and awareness activities
- developing industry-accessible practical solutions
- providing targeted compliance support and guidance to industry
- undertaking regulatory reform where necessary
- undertaking more strategic enforcement action.
As part of implementing the Plan, WHSQ will:
- focus on the workplace health and safety of young workers
- increase the capability of industry to address musculoskeletal disorder risk factors
- build a culture that makes workplace health and safety an integral part of normal farm business operations
- focus on assisting small business
- explore incentives to encourage businesses to improve workplace health and safety performance.
Within these strategies the Rural Industry Sector Standing Committee and WHSQ have developed six projects that WHSQ and Farmsafe Queensland will be undertaking during the period of the Plan:
- safer systems of field work in the fruit growing sector
- safe systems of work in vegetable packing
- safer systems of work in the cattle industry (outlined in the Spring 2008 edition of SAFE Rural)
- raising awareness of the causes of all terrain vehicle injury
- safety compliance of high risk plant
- management of injury risk through on-property workshops.
For more information on the Plan’s initiatives phone the WHS Infoline on 1300 369 915.
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