New platform to help in the fight against farm injury

As the agricultural sector aims for zero on-farm fatalities, the launch of the Ag Safety Data Net (ASDN) is aiming to reinforce the collective responsibility for farm safety. The ASDN project is an initiative of the Rural Safety and Health Alliance, funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Grains Research and Development Corporation, Australian Wool Innovation, Australian Pork Limited, and AgriFutures Australia.

The ASDN project will develop and implement an ongoing data system that will provide meaningful metrics for farm safety planning, and for the first time report at industry, regional, state and national levels. The project is co-ordinated by AgHealth Australia and will run through until June 2027.

Chair of Farmsafe Australia, Felicity Richards, highlighted the urgency of addressing farm injury, particularly as harvest and hay/silage seasons approach.

“We are seeing up to 40 fatalities and an increase in serious injuries on Australian farms each year,” Ms Richards said.“Despite this, there is no single source of truth for all key injury measures. Therefore, by centralising this information, ASDN will make it easier to highlight issues and trends more easily. Targeted solutions that will have benefits for individuals, families, rural communities and the overall productivity of farm businesses, can then be prioritised.”

“The better we can identify and address risks, the greater chance we have of everyone returning home safely after a day at work.”

This year, farm-related deaths and injuries reported in the media have already exceeded those from 2023. With three months of the year remaining, this underscores the urgency to prevent these incidents.

ASDN consolidates farm injury information at national, state and regional levels, while ensuring privacy and confidentiality. The platform will also produce measures that target the prevention of injury through practical actions that farmers can take.

As Ms Richards explains, the importance of safety education for anyone entering a farm, whether workers, family members, or contractors, cannot be understated.

“Safe workplaces are essential to maintaining a reliable workforce. On both small family farms and larger operations, identifying risks and taking the steps required to limit injury, is vital” Ms Richards said.

“As machinery dominates farm incidents, especially during harvest and peak periods such as hay/silage production, we urge farmers to take regular breaks to combat fatigue during long workdays.”

AgriFutures Australia Senior Manager, Rural Futures, Ulicia Raufers highlighted the challenges of farm injury data collection.

“With limited technical capacity for farm-specific analysis, most reports only offer high-level descriptions of fatalities, with less than half of on-farm injuries recorded,” Ms Raufers said.

“Quality information is crucial for understanding the issues and taking appropriate action. By using the ASDN platform, the agriculture sector can significantly improve safety outcomes and reduce fatalities, a goal that we all desperately want to see become a reality.”