12 December 2023.
Following recent breaches and fines over work, health and safety failures, members should be conscious of safety obligations on their farms. It never hurts to review what may be very common tasks regularly to identify risks before they become hazards.
- Fatal electrocution at cattle feedlot: A Wagyu beef producer, Harmony Operations Pty Ltd, was fined $140,000 after an employee, Adrian Wilde, was electrocuted while stacking hay bales at a cattle feedlot in western Victoria in 2020.
- Breach of Occupational Health and Safety Act: The company pled guilty to two charges of failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment and failing to provide necessary information and instruction to enable employees to work safely.
- No exclusion zone around powerlines: The court heard the company did not have a system or provide instruction that required workers using a telehandler to remain more than 3 metres away from the powerlines, which would have reduced the risk of serious injury or death.
For more information visit Work, Health and Safety