agriculture – SafetyAtWorkBlog

The Hidden Barrier to Safer Workplaces: Financial Literacy in OHS

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 or rethinking production systems—more widespread? The answer might lie in a hidden barrier: the WHS profession’s shaky grasp of financial literacy, compounded by the stranglehold of financial underwriting models and capital market expectations. Maybe it’s time we admit that the safety game isn’t just about risk assessments—it’s about money, and we’re not playing it well enough.

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Farmers’ values need analysis and changing

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 represents different cultural values that deserve greater attention.

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New data shows farmers are still not working as safely as they could

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 AgHealth Australia data shows, up from 32 deaths in 2023 and 55 in 2022.
In Victoria, there were 16 deaths in 2024, up from seven in 2023.”

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Farmer who killed his three-year-old goes to jail

At the end of February 2025, a farmer in England was jailed for 12 months following a successful prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive. In 2022, the farmer, Neil Speakman, drove over his three-year-old son, Albie, in a telehandler that Speakman was not qualified to use and had restricted visibility. Speakman was jailed after he failed to ensure the health and safety of his son.

If this type of incident had happened in Australia, it is uncertain whether a farmer would receive a custodial sentence because the community may feel that the farmer and their family would have “been punished enough” by the loss of their child. Why can England do what Australia resists?

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A cultural shift may require a re-analysis of moral priorities

Last week, The Weekly Times, a prominent Australian agriculture newspaper, reported on some peculiar behaviours by farmers and quad bike owners. Under laws introduced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, removing vital occupational health and safety (OHS) operator protection devices is permissible. Why would farmers remove a critical safety device and endanger themselves and others?

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The reporting of farm deaths could be improved

Recently, Lisa Ronson died in a vehicle incident on her Victorian farm. Much has already been written about her family’s loss, Lisa’s life and the impact on the community. This article is not about her; it is about how her death has been presented in the media over the last few days and the words used for the means of her death.

For many, her death was brought to our attention by a front-page article in the Herald-Sun newspaper on November 25, 2024 (image below). As an advocate for occupational health and safety (OHS) with a strong interest in farm safety, I read the whole article, and others, looking for details of the incident to contextualise it in the history of farm deaths. The only details were mentioned in the second paragraph:

“….after Ms Ronson was killed in a tragic farm accident on Saturday night, her devastated family is mourning the loss of a cherished wife and mother.”

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Quad Bike Safety Standard compliance and media accuracy

It is reasonable to claim that the quad bike safety controversy has been resolved in Australia through the intervention of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the imposition of a national safety standard. However, the occupational health and safety (OHS) message continues to be murkier than necessary when quad bikes are advertised in some of the agricultural media without critical safety devices.

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