Farmers' hazardous substances management continues to concern WorkSafe inspectors

7:26 pm today

Just under 40 percent of farms visited were issued "improvement notices" for managing hazardous substances (file image).

Photo: 123rf

The safe management of hazardous substances like agrichemicals on farms continues to be a concern for WorkSafe.

The workplace health and safety regulator sent inspectors to 680 sheep, beef and dairy farmers across the motu late last year, as part of an industry-specific campaign.

Agriculture remained one of the most dangerous work industries in Aotearoa.

It accounted for just under a third of all work injuries and had the highest toll for work fatalities throughout 2024.

Just under 40 percent of farms visited were issued "improvement notices" for managing hazardous substances, mostly for lacking safety data sheets and chemical inventories.

Project lead Carl Baker said overall compliance was "pretty good", but there were areas for improvement.

He said keeping full records of hazardous substances could prevent serious and long-term harm.

"For workers who use those chemicals, it gives them a bit of an idea about what kind of harm could occur from using those chemcials, what type of protective equipment they should be wearing wearing, what they should do if they injest or get something in their eyeballs, how they should be able to treat themselves.

"But also, it's really valuable information for emergency services if they turn up onto the farms, if there's a fire or a spill. It gives them the information on those safety data sheets on how they can contain that."

Inspectors also found common issues like inadequate guarding on tractors' power take-off or PTO shafts, with improvements required at a quarter of the South Island farms visited.

All improvement notices issued were returned after farmers made efforts to comply in future, so none faced fines, it said.

Similar issues arose for WorkSafe inspectors on orchards between July and September, including hazardous chemicals management, machinery safety issues and working around vehicles.

Baker said keeping vehicles serviced, checking brakes and tyres, and using seatbelts, helmets and guarding PTOs could save lives.

More than 80 percent of the businesses assessed had fewer than five employees.