Now its ninth year, the Tamworth Farmers of the Future Farm Safety Field Day aims to prevent accidents by cultivating safe habits that continue throughout students’ working lives.

The message to Year Nine agriculture students is that farming is the second most dangerous occupation in terms of work-related deaths - yet most accidents are preventable.

“Year Nine students are specifically targeted because this is the risk taking behaviour group who believe they are bullet-proof and nothing will happen to them. Sadly the statistics show otherwise," said field day organiser and nurse audiometrist with Hunter New England Health, Kathy Challinor.

“Every activity on farm is essentially hazardous, so we set out to instil in students a safety message based on weighing up the risks before attempting any task.

“By raising awareness of farm safety and how easy it is to reduce the risk of accidents or injury, we know we can have an impact and we hope they take the message home to their parents as well.”

The farm safety field day is an initiative of the Tamworth Farmsafe Committee, made up of State government departments representatives, concerned farmers and local citizens.

Held at the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Tamworth Agricultural Institute, it features workshops on safe animal handling, tractor and workshop safety, chemicals, ag-bikes, chainsaws, firearms and electrical safety, and rural noise injury prevention. 

This year’s event was made possible by the combined efforts of Tamworth Farmsafe Committee, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Landmark, Country Energy, Gunnedah TAFE, WorkCover NSW, Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School and Hunter New England Area Health Service.

Contact: Kathy Challinor on 0428 667 502 or Bruce Terrill on 6763 1101.

This story appears Agriculture Today.