Farmer Attitudes to Farm Safety
MAP Policy Technical Paper 93/15
ISSN 1171-4662
ISBN 0-478-07335-6
Margaret Wheatstone MAF Policy MASTERTON
September 1993
Disclaimer
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information herein is accurate, MAF does not accept any liability for error of fact or opinion which may be present, nor for the consequences of any financial decision based on this information.
Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the official view of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
© Crown Copyright - Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries 1993
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the authors.
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Telephone (04) 472 0367 Facsimile (04) 472 9071
Foreword
ACC figures suggest that Agriculture is the single most expensive industry in terms of expenditure on accident claims. The number of claims is increasing by 10% a year, farmer deaths resulting from accidents are more than double the rate of the NZ average, and a farm worker has nearly S times the chance of being killed in an accident than the average New Zealander.
MAF Policy used the June 1993 Farm Monitoring round to question farmers and orchardists about their attitude to safety. The results of this investigation are presented in this report.
The study identified some issues that will make communication on farm safety difficult. Many farmers and growers saw farm safety as using common sense and being aware of hazards. Others saw ~t as a problem on other farmers' properties but not their own. The majority of farmers thought they could operate more safely, but this would mean greater costs imposed on their operations. Few saw an economic benefit from running the property more safely.
The Health and Safety in Employment Act was not understood by many farmers and orchardists, and a few saw it as bureaucratic and unnecessary.
The report recommends that some hard data be presented to farmer groups on:-
- the high level of accidents on farms,
- the link between down time caused by accidents on farm profitability and even in extreme cases farm business viability,
- the need for training m safe practices, and
- the place of the HSE Act in providing guidelines for visitors, families and owners, as well as farm contractors and employees.
Dr Ann Pomeroy
Manager Rural Affairs
MAF Policy
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