Taking on farm safety - farming - business | Stuff.co.nz

Neighbours' sneers don't bother Kapuni farmer Roger Luscombe and his staff when they put helmets on to ride quad bikes or farm bikes.

"They're the ones not doing anything about safety, then they wonder why people get injured," says Luscombe, who is concerned at what he sees as a big divide between farmers who are proactive about health and safety and those who don't want to know about it.

He doesn't accept the excuses of farmers who say quad bike helmets are uncomfortable.

The Luscombe family partnership - Roger and Lyn Luscombe and Philip and Ainsley Luscombe - uses helmets from Whanganui's Pacific Helmets, which makes them for firefighters and other specialist users.

"The biggest gripe among farmers is that helmets don't fit, but Pacific Helmets are available in multiple sizes."

They're custom-fitted and brightly coloured and there's room for a beanie or a rain jacket hood underneath.

The partnership's health and safety co-ordinator, Steve Campbell, has worked for the Luscombes for five years and agrees the helmets are comfortable. He said he often forgot he was wearing one.

"You jump on the tractor, drive down the road and you've still got your helmet on."

The compulsory wearing of helmets and a 30kmh speed limit for all vehicles on the farms are noted in the partnership's comprehensive health and safety plan which it began developing 18 months ago because of concern about the risks staff were taking at work.

"I knew the day of reckoning would come and that we'd be required to make improvements," Luscombe said.

Not sure where to start, the partnership engaged Christchurch-based Health and Safety Systems Ltd to help them create and implement a plan, which is audited annually. As well, a company agent attends the partnership's health and safety meeting every second month.

Luscombe said the plan, with which contractors must comply, was integral to rather than additional to the partnership's day-to-day operations.

The staff - up to eight at season peak - had taken ownership of the health and safety plan for the two farms, a 200-hectare farm milking 700 cows and a 180ha farm milking 600 cows.

The plan is reviewed at monthly meetings, which Luscombe says are crucial to its success.

"We've built a safety culture - the staff own that culture. They hold the monthly meetings whether I'm here or not. The meetings make us aware of any dangers and of the need to be careful around machinery.

"Subconsciously, we all now think about safety and we don't take risks. The plan has united everyone because there's common ground about requirements and expectations.

"We've had no accidents on the farm or in the shed since we put the plan in place. Before that, hardly a year went by without an accident. And that's typical of most farms."

It's an approach that's likely to find favour with the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety due to present its report to the Government at the end of the month.

Taskforce chairman Rob Jager, of New Plymouth, has highlighted agriculture as one of five employment sectors that need to reduce their high accident rate. The others are manufacturing, fishing, construction and forestry.

Luscombe said the partnership's long association with the nearby Shell Todd Oil Services natural gas production station, the Vector natural gas processing plant and Ballance Agri-Nutrients ammonia- urea plant had heightened their safety awareness.

As well, their links with Parininihi ki Waitotara meant they had to comply with the Maori incorporation's safety requirements.

"My attitude is why should farming be different from other industries? I'd rather be proactive than inactive about safety."

The plan requires regular reviews of maintenance and servicing of plant and machinery to ensure a high standard.

Campbell who, as health and safety co-ordinator, runs induction programmes for new staff, said he enjoyed working in a safe environment where the equipment was well-maintained.

Functioning equipment meant less downtime and allowed tasks to be carried out quickly, efficiently and safely.

Up for discussion at this month's meeting was the issue of towing palm kernel trailers with quad bikes. "The trailers are heavy - we still have to overcome that problem," Campbell said.

The plan requires chainsaw users to wear safety footwear and safety leggings.

"Once we used to grab the chainsaw for a quick job and take the risk we wouldn't get hurt. We don't do that now," Campbell said. "And when we're on the tractor, we always turn it off before we get off."

Other changes include a requirement for two people to undertake cowshed maintenance and the addition of reflectors to hydrants in dairy effluent paddocks, making them visible to farm bike riders who no longer hit them and get thrown off.

He said he thought much more about keeping safe at work since the partnership implemented the plan. "You don't take risks any more. There's no speeding down the race."

Employee Jonathan Rouse also said staff were more aware of safety. "Now we step back and think about what we do and how we can make it safer."

Luscombe pointed out the Accident Compensation Corporation's substantial discount on the partnership's ACC levies covered the cost of implementing and auditing the plan.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/8537187/Taking-on-farm-safety

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