Farm safety practices and farm size in New South Wales

Objective: There is some evidence to suggest that safety on small area farms may not be high priority due to economic constraints and lack of knowledge. This has important ramifications for injury and economic burden. The objective of this research was to conduct a pilot study to investigate whether small to medium area farms implement fewer safety practices than large farms. Methods: Farmers were recruited from farm safety training days, field days and produce stores in rural New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Small and medium farms less than 500 hectares (1235 acres) in size were aggregated for analysis and compared to large farms (≥500ha) for survey items including safety equipment owned and used, safety practices protecting children, barriers to improving safety, and causes of injury. Results: Overall, small/medium area farms were found to own less safety equipment and to employ less safety practices than large farms. In particular, fewer tractors were fitted with roll over protection structures, there was less signage, less hearing protection, and fewer machinery guides. Injury rates were slightly less for small/medium farms, particularly involving vehicles. Small and medium farmers were more likely to report lack of skills as barriers to making safety improvements. Conclusion: This pilot study found some evidence that small/medium area farms implement fewer safety practices than large area farms. A larger study is warranted to investigate this further with particular focus on barriers and ways to overcome them. This could have important ramifications for government policies supporting struggling farmers on small/medium area farms.