National Farm Safety Week 2024: What You Need to Know

Unfortunately, agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in Australia. Keeping your team safe is constantly on the minds of agriculture managers.

There are many initiatives to assist Australian farmers and growers in this critical task. One of the most important events is National Farm Safety Week.

This multi-channel event from Farmsafe Australia offers plenty for farmers and growers. In our complete guide, we'll guide you through everything you need to get the most out of National Farm Safety Week.

What is National Farm Safety Week?

National Farm Safety Week is an annual event organised by Farmsafe Australia. During the week, the organisation takes part in a range of initiatives to raise awareness around farm safety.

Each National Farm Safety Week follows a particular theme. These themes help the learnings of the event be specific and actionable.

In previous Farm Safety Weeks, Farmsafe Australia has produced offerings like:

Annual Safer Farms Trend Report: Farmsafe Australia's Safer Farms Trend Report is launched during Farm Safety Week. These in-depth reports provide critical insights into farm safety throughout the previous year. The report is focused on the theme of the week itself.
Media releases: Throughout Farm Safety Week, Farmsafe Australia produces a series of media releases. These media releases dig deeper into particular topics within the theme of the week. For instance, Farm Safety Week 2023 focused on tractor and machinery safety. Media releases throughout the weekend focused specifically on topics like vehicle safety mechanisms and limb protection.
Instagram tiles: One of the major goals of Farm Safety Week is to spark conversation among farmers. To help with this, Farmsafe Australia produces Instagram tiles which farmers and growers can download and post onto their Instagram accounts. This makes it easy for agriculture professionals to engage in online conversations and spread awareness about Farm Safety Week.

What are the benefits of National Farm Safety Week?

National Farm Safety Week has many benefits to offer Australia's agricultural community. Here are the key reasons for you to get involved:

Awareness: National Farm Safety Week raises awareness about critical safety issues on farms. Its use of annual themes allows it to highlight specific topics. Through the Annual Safer Farms Trends Report and media, key data about farm safety is effectively shared.
Conversation: National Farm Safety Week is an excellent opportunity to kickstart conversations in the Australian agricultural industry. Through the creation of Instagram tiles, Farmsafe Australia makes it easy for farmers and growers to get in on the conversation on social media.
Resource accessibility: Throughout National Farm Safety Week, farmers and growers get to access a range of excellent resources from Farmsafe Australia. The statistics and insights on offer can be useful for increasing understanding of farm safety issues among agriculture managers. Best of all, you can share your learnings with your entire team.

What is the theme for National Farm Safety Week 2024?

The theme for National Farm Safety Week 2024 is 'In Safe Hands'. According to Farmsafe Australia, the week "will explore the importance of our farmers, farming families, and the Australian agricultural industry being 'in safe hands'."

In addition to this overall theme, the week also has daily sub-topics. They are:

Sunday 14 July: Theme launch and the 2024 Safer Farms Report
Monday 15 July: Support and Wellbeing
Tuesday 16 July: Active Supervision of Children on Farms
Wednesday 17 July: The Critical Importance of First Aid Training
Thursday 18 July: Livestock Handling
Friday 19 July: Ageing on Farm
Saturday 20 July: Seatbelt Use

While we don't know exactly what the week has in store yet, it looks like it will offer a comprehensive overview of farm safety. For example, the week will have days dedicated to both "active supervision of children on farms" and "ageing on farm".

This shows the week will cater to the full spectrum of Australians on farms. This is also notable because people within these age groups can be particularly vulnerable to injuries on farms.

How can farms participate in National Farm Safety Week?

Keen to get involved in National Farm Safety Week? Here are some of the best ways to do just that:

Social media: Social media is an incredible resource for raising awareness and starting conversations. Using relevant hashtags like #farmsafetyweek and #nationalfarmsafetyweek are excellent ways to engage with other farmers and growers. Through these conversations, you can pick up useful farm safety tips and insights.
Team events: Ring in National Farm Safety Week with your own on-farm event. Consider organising information sessions or full-blown workshops. You could organise and host these events yourself, or bring in some professional assistance. Either way, it's an ideal way to get your team thinking deeply about farm safety.
Get involved in local events: Rural communities also often host local events to mark Farm Safety Week. Find out what your local community is doing to highlight farm safety and get involved. This is the perfect way to get additional insights into farm safety and to share your own.

Farm safety statistics

Statistics are an important way for farmers and growers to understand the significance of farm safety. We've assembled a few insightful figures for agricultural managers to consider.

There were 44 fatalities in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry in 2022. There were 14.7 deaths per 100,000 workers. This is by far the highest of any industry in Safe Work Australia's annual report.
There were approximately 3,900 serious claims regarding work-related injury and illness in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry. Claims were made at a rate of 10.9 per 100,000 workers, the highest among any industry in the report.
According to the 2023 Annual Safer Farms Trend Report, 64% of 2022 fatalities were attributed to farm vehicles or mobile farm machinery.
73% of fatalities were attributed to people over 45 years of age.
93% of fatalities were attributed to males.
18% of 2022 injuries were attributed to children under 15 years of age.
Approximately 87% of injuries around Australia occurred in NSW and Queensland.
Since 2001, 1,705 people have lost their lives on Australian farms.

For more information, check out our complete guide to Australian agricultural statistics.

5 steps to improve your farm safety

Farm Safety Week is the perfect time to reconsider how you are approaching health and safety on your property. Here are a few of our top tips for improving processes on your property and doing a better job of keeping your team safe.

Safety audits: Conducting regular safety audits is an excellent way to stay on top of any safety issues in your farm. You can also sign up for certification programs and get externally audited that way.
Easily available information: Pamphlets and traditional signs will only get you so far. To help your team and visitors access the information they need on-demand, look to farm management apps like Onside. With Onside, it's easy to share critical information like emergency plans.
Check-in: Check-in features also help to share information with team members and property visitors, as you can present information to them upon arrival. Check-in systems are also helpful for lone worker safety. You can quickly identify potential emergencies if lone workers do not check out when expected.
Farm mapping: Farm mapping software helps to share live information about hazards on a farm. With Onside, your whole team can access a map on their mobile device and add their own updates. When it comes to health and safety, this is a massive upgrade over printing maps in an office.
Use checklists: Resources like farm safety checklists, lone worker safety checklists and farm health and safety policy checklists can be extremely useful. They offer actionable cheat sheets to assess health and safety processes on your property.

Onside offers an intuitive digital solution that can bolster safety on your farm in many ways. Get started with Onside today and find out how we can help your agribusiness.