Published: 15 July 2024
Cattle handling is one of the most common causes of workplace death on Victorian farms, claiming six lives since 2018. In the same period, more than 240 people were injured seriously enough while working with cattle to receive workers compensation.
Speaking with WorkSafe about his South Gippsland beef operation, farmer Peter Miller described his facilities as a work in progress, but said improvements to his yards had increased safety and efficiency.
"My stockyard is fairly homemade, but it shows that any farmer can build a safe yard," Mr Miller said.
"When we first came here, the yards were traditional old timber stockyards. Our new yard design is based on a round yard principle and we're probably three to four times more efficient than we were before."
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said providing a safe working environment was the best way to maintain a productive and sustainable farming business.
"We understand safety on farms is an evolving process and we want to support farming businesses to ensure their cattle infrastructure is meeting at least a basic level of safety, while planning for further improvements over time," Mr Jenkin said.
"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."
To help spread the message, WorkSafe agriculture specialists were at Saturday’s Country Club Game at Gormandale to share resources such as safety checklists on safer cattle handling and to help local farmers assess how their practices measure up.
Mr Miller said he had a responsibility to keep not only himself and his family safe, but also everyone else who comes onto 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 five workplace deaths had sadly been recorded in agriculture 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."
In addition to the human toll, failing to adequately protect workers and others from unsafe yards or the risks when handling cattle has cost businesses almost $420,000 in fines and court costs since the start of 2023.
For resources such as safety checklists and for more information: