Farm safety is a major issue in Victoria with two people injured on Victorian farms every day on average, according to Agriculture Victoria.

The agriculture industry makes up just two per cent of Victoria’s workforce but regularly accounts for more than 10 per cent of all workplace deaths.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) partnered with cherry growers, Koala Cherries, to host a farm safety event at the Cobram Civic Centre on Wednesday, April 15 as part of the Making Our Farms Safer project.

Project manager Bianna Kelly said the initiative is funded by WorkSafe Victoria and is about “bridging the gap between farmers and investigators”.

“We're really trying to impart education and knowledge on to farmers to make informed decisions about their safety on the farm when they're doing their day-to-day tasks,” she said.

“I think unfortunately everyone in the industry has stories that have impacted them about accidents or deaths on a farm.”

“I really want to be able to make a difference to everyone coming home safe in a community and industry that I love and have been raised in.”

Koala Cherries began in 1944 in the Yarra Valley before moving to Yarck in 1988 and is now a fourth generation family business.

They have orchards in Cobram, Yarck and Strathbogie Ranges and employ about 65 full-time staff, expanding out to between 800 and 1000 casual workers throughout the summer.

Koala Cherries managing director Michael Rouget said they had an accident in their packing shed about four years ago.

“A lady got her hand caught in between a powered conveyor belt and a set of unpowered rollers, it caught in the gap, and it pulled the skin off her hand,” he said.

“It didn't actually break any bones, but it jammed her in there, and we had to wait until the paramedics arrived before we could release it.

“Fortunately, she was eventually okay, but she had to have two operations to fix the nerve damage in her hand.

The business had worked with the machine for years, and so the risk wasn't obvious to them.

Koala Cherries was charged and went through an enforceable undertaking and, as an outcome of that, they adapted their safe operating procedures and WorkSafe policies with the VFF.

Mr Rouget said the biggest change had been the work culture, encouraging staff to report any ‘near misses’ and ensuring they were recorded.

“Part of our learning has been you can never truly eliminate all the risks, but you can minimise them,” he said.

The Making Our Farms Safer project, including farm safety visits, is free to all Victorian farmers, not just VFF members.

For more information on the Making Our Farms Safer project, visit makingourfarmssafer.org.au

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