Cattle handling deaths highlight need for safer farm yards
15 July 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
Cattle handling has claimed six lives on Victorian farms since 2018, making it one of the most common causes of workplace death in the sector. WorkSafe is highlighting yard safety and improvements to cattle-handling practices.
More than 240 people have also suffered injuries while working with cattle serious enough to receive workers compensation over the same period. Since the start of 2023, businesses have incurred almost $420,000 in fines and court costs for failing to adequately protect workers and others from unsafe yards or cattle-handling risks.
South Gippsland beef farmer Peter Miller told WorkSafe that his facilities remained a work in progress, but changes to his yards had improved both safety and efficiency. He said the property’s traditional timber stockyards had been replaced with a design based on a round yard principle.
"My stockyard is fairly homemade, but it shows that any farmer can build a safe yard," Mr Miller said. He estimated the new design had made the operation three to four times more efficient than before.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said a safe working environment was the best way to maintain a productive and sustainable farming business. He said WorkSafe wanted to support farmers to bring cattle infrastructure to at least a basic level of safety while planning further improvements.
"When you are making larger scale investments such as livestock yard upgrades, it is important to consider human safety elements, which often have the added benefit of increasing efficiency," Mr Jenkin said.
WorkSafe agriculture specialists attended Saturday’s Country Club Game at Gormandale to share safer cattle-handling resources, including safety checklists. They also helped local farmers assess their practices.
Mr Miller said his responsibility for safety extended beyond himself and his family to everyone visiting the farm. "For our contractors, for our stock agents, the transporters, anybody that comes onto the farm, we have an obligation to make sure they go home safe every night," he said.
Mr Jenkin said agriculture had recorded five workplace deaths this year. "These people were capable, long-time farmers and most were doing a job they had done many times before, highlighting that experience alone is not enough to prevent a tragic incident."
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