Farms & Farm Machinery #401

Feature
What we’ve been
working towards in
just changing the
culture within the
staff t the farm
SAFETY
Since taking over the family farm in 2016, former agronomist
Simon Craig has found new ways to look at farm safety and
help prevent potential accidents, Anthony Wingard reports
Forward thinking
Victorian sheep and grain farmer Simon Craig has been
working to improve health and safety on his farm
Victorian sheep and grain farmer Simon Craig has
always been one to put safety first.
That’s why recently, when Craig and another of his
staff ere faced with inspecting the inside of an old
silo – regarded as among the most dangerous tasks
on a farm – he was sure to take the necessary safety
steps beforehand.
“The best you can do is to start identifying the
risks and work towards minimising it and finding a
solution,” Craig told Farms & Farm Machinery.
Together, the pair talked it through before he
entered, devising a strategy of action should the lack
of oxygen and increased levels of carbon dioxide
and nitrogen dioxide cause him to pass out. They
decided to cut a hole in the side of the silo that was
big enough to fit Craig if he needed assistance and
could be pulled out.
“It probably wouldn’t have been for the benefit
of the silo, but we talked about that and said, well, it
will be safer, and it will also let some more oxygen
in,” he says.
The inspection of the old silo was a straightforward
exercise, yet it is these instances – of which
there are plenty – where Craig and his staff ave
implemented measures to ensure greater safety
is achieved.
Having studied agricultural science at university,
Craig worked as an agronomist at ag-research
organisation Birchip Cropping Group until he took
over the family’s Lemac farm, outside Kooloonong
in Victoria’s north west, in 2016.
His time as an agronomist has seemingly
provided him with a knowledgeable foundation
on farm safety and has worked to update and
improve safety practices at Lemac since.
“I probably see it [farm safety] as a pretty big risk to
farming businesses as a whole,” says Craig.
“I think we seem to have an attitude of common
sense pays and that we rely on people’s awareness
and common sense to do simple tasks,”
“There should be more awareness of it.”
CULTURE SHOCK
Paramount to his work in farm safety – which has
seen him become one of the faces of WorkSafe’s 2021
Farm Safety Week – is the changing of attitudes and
culture around farm safety among his staff.
Regular Monday meetings are now a staple at
Lemac, where Craig and his team – comprised of
one other full-time worker and a handful of
backpackers and casual labour during harvests –
discuss the past week where staff ave the
opportunity to state if anything needs fixing or
addressing. A notice board has also been installed
where safety tasks are noted down and subsequently
crossed off pon completion.
Several interventions have already been
implemented on the farm. Staff dentified the seeder
bars as a potential risk; slippery from a combination
of fertiliser and dew when they were climbing up
there at night. High-vis tape was installed on each of
the frames – the solution cost just $100.
Roll bars have also been installed on their quad
bikes – a practice which will be required on new
vehicles in Australia by law from October this year.
“The main thing that I’ll happily hang my hat on
and what we’ve been working towards in just changing
the culture within the staff t the farm,” says Craig.
“We try to bring them along with making them see
what we’re trying to do is the best thing for them as
well and it’s not just me filling out paperwork and
ticking boxes.
“Most of the time, they just wanted to keep on working
– just head down, bum up – and that really was the
hard thing, to change their attitude to it. But I think
once you explain to them what you are trying to do,
you actually do get them on the right side.
“Once you’ve got the culture and the right
attitude among the staff roup, the paperwork and
everything else will follow. There’s no point throwing
paperwork at staff t the start because they will
dislike it, but if you go with them and bring them
along the journey, you’ll find everything else
happens in the meantime.”
IN THE CLOUD
Day-to-day, Craig and the team document
everything on Safe Ag Systems – a cloud-based
safety management soft are accessible as an
app on smart phones and online.
The software, designed by a former South
Australian farmer, can be used for a myriad of
agriculture safety functions. At Lemac, it is used to
bring staff p to speed on the safety requirements
and document any occupational health and safety
risks or hazards that arise throughout the day.
Craig also uses the system to induct and introduce
machinery on the farm where it stores information,
including operation manuals and service history.
“If a staff ember happens to use a particular
[piece of] equipment and notices that it needs to
be repaired, he can note it in the software and so
someone can fit it before its next use,” says Craig.
“The app helps us be more proactive but, as a farm,
I think the next steps are at a more senior level with
more documentation, more protocols put in place.
“I believe we are a safe enough farm but… as a
farmer, I don’t want to proclaim that I have the safest
farm in Australia.”
However, as Craig reiterates, documenting and
registering equipment via the Safe Ag Systems
software may not meet state and territory
occupational health and safety guidelines,
with the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF)
and other state entities often requiring more
documentation and records.
It’s a combination then, of both monitoring and
recording information via the software as well as
logged information elsewhere. To do so, Craig has
engaged with a consultant from the VFF in order to
be compliant with rules.
“VFF have a team dedicated towards helping
its members, which also includes a free consultation
and inspection of the farm, and there was no
animosity or hardness coming,” Craig says of his
dealings with the VFF.
“It was very open-minded – ‘are you aware of your
expectations here and there’ – and they pointed out
a few things which they saw as a possible risk and
gave me an idea of some more.”
FARMER ADVICE
Moving forward, Craig and the team at Lemac Farm
have already identified other areas where they hope
to improve their safety practices.
Namely, Craig cites the risks associated with
working at height and working with fatigue as
areas of improvement. However, fatigue remains
a factor on the farm as operating hours have been
extended recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic
meaning fewer backpackers and seasonal workers
are available.
He also wants to streamline the noticeboard and
weekly meeting process – such as recording what is
40 Farms & Farm Machinery