Most of you will have been able to determine some of my values from the thousands of articles I have written here, but sometimes it is worth stopping, reviewing and clarifying. I met a friend in Zurich of a different political leaning from mine last week who, in a simple way, confirmed some of my …
I have been writing about the safety of quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles for many years. The debate over quad bike safety was one of the most complex and vicious I have ever seen. In some minds, the issue has been resolved in Australia, but farmers continue to die from these vehicles. Below is a … Continue reading “Audio summary on Quad Bike Safety”
Australia now has a Rural Media Farm Injury Dashboard, which shows the location of agricultural injuries and deaths from 2020 onwards. This is the type of publicly available information required to help reinforce an awareness of the dangers of farm work and demystify and destigmatise occupational health and safety (OHS) in this sector. There are …
Australia’s occupational health and safety (OHS) has improved over the decades. Yet, preventable injuries and fatalities persist—over 180 quad bike deaths since 2011, for example, with rollovers leading the charge. We have regulations, campaigns, and a national body in Safe Work Australia, but something’s still missing. Why aren’t workplace redesign efforts—like fitting rollbars on quads …
Recent statistics on farm safety by AgHealth Australia reported in an earlier article, have also garnered attention from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The focus is on the number of deaths associated with side-by-side (SXS) vehicles, and farming seems to be treated as a special work health and safety case. Farming is not exceptional but …
Recently, the Weekly Times reported* some disturbing statistics about farm-related deaths in Victoria. It summarised the AgHealth Australia data as: “Farm deaths have doubled in the past 12 months, with vehicles the leading contributing factor, as farmers and authorities label the issue an emergency.Seventy-two people died and there were 133 serious injuries in 2024, new …
Australia has learned much from its consideration of psychosocial factors that can generate psychological harm in workers over the last decade. By the end of 2025, all Australian jurisdictions will likely have re-emphasised the psychological elements of employers’ and workers’ occupational health and safety (OHS) duties. However, the legislative changes are likely to fail to …
