6 tips from farmers to stay safe when working alone

“If I'm hurt, the work doesn’t get done,” says Mark, a sheep farmer from Euroa, Victoria. “I can’t afford to get hurt, so sometimes I’ve just got to step back and say, all right, that job can wait. It’s still got to be done, but it can wait until we’ve got a safety plan.”

Here are some top tips from Victorian farmers on how they manage working alone safely.

For Euroa sheep farmers, Mark and Donna, the most important thing they do before starting their day is communicate about what they’re doing and where they’re going.

“Working alone on the farm is really no different to going into the bush,” says Donna. “You both need to be on the same page about where you’re going, what you’re doing while you’re there and what time you think you’ll be back.”

Dairy farmers Mark and Trish Hammond (pictured above), from Labertouche in Victoria’s West Gippsland region, have employees working across their two properties.

“Everybody in our business will always carry a mobile phone so if there is an issue when they’re out on the bike or in the tractor then they’ve always got somebody who they can contact,” says Trish.

“If they haven’t come back after their tasks have been completed, then we know that maybe something’s gone wrong or they’ve had a bit of trouble,” she says. “Then we’ll go and find them to help them, or just ring them to ask how everything is going and check that they’re okay.”

One aspect of farming Donna has noted is that if you’re only doing something once a year, take some time to think it through.

“If you’re only doing something infrequently, it’s probably worth running a mental checklist before you start that day and consider what you have forgotten,” says Donna.

“Ask yourself every single time, what could possibly go wrong?"

“I use contractors now to do some jobs because it is a specialised task. I do it once a year, but they do it every day; they’re an expert,” Mark adds.

Farm managers or owners should always induct new workers and contractors, including what to look out for, alerting them to any potentially hazardous areas on the farm they need to avoid or where they need to exercise extra care.

“When everybody starts, they’ll always get given a staff map which is specific to the farm they’re working on,” says Trish.

“On these maps we will highlight areas of hazard and let them know the no-go zones and we’ll do an induction as well, in conjunction with the map.

“It talks about communications with others and working alone that matches the Dairy Australia Induction Checklist, which has a ‘working alone’ component.”

Personal locator beacons are similar to emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRBS) used on boats, but are designed for use on land. They can send a distress signal in an emergency on-farm.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority recommends personal locator beacons with a global positioning system (GPS), as these can help locate a person more quickly, and to register it.

Keep the personal locator beacon with you when working alone and not, for example, on the dashboard of the ute or tractor.

There are other readily available and accessible solutions, such as emergency phone apps, wearable tech and phone-tracing functions to locate someone or to send distress calls.

“Mark and I both have ‘Find My iPhone’ so that when Mark is out on the farm and due home I can check where he is and see if he is on his way. If he hasn’t moved in a while, I can send him a text or I can send a neighbour out to check on him if I’m away from home,” says Donna.

A good one to have handy is the Emergency Plus app, developed by Australia’s emergency services and government industry partners.

The app can help you call Triple Zero (000) quickly and allows you to accurately communicate your location to emergency call-takers.

The app uses the mobile phone’s GPS and ‘what3words’, a system that converts GPS coordinates to quickly share and save exact locations. Callers can provide their location without data coverage.

When developing a workplace emergency procedure consider how the size and location of the business will affect your plan. Even small farms should consider designating and training a first aider in the workplace, and rehearsing and testing emergency procedures.

Wearing the correct safety gear for the job you’re doing dramatically reduces the risk of serious and life-changing injury. These include helmets when riding quad bikes, sturdy work boots and wearing ear protection around loud machinery.

You might think putting on the safety gear will take longer than doing the job, but skipping it doesn’t reduce the risk.

“There’s a whole new generation of farmers that are coming through,” says Mark. “There’s a real opportunity to instil safety at the ground level, that’s where I think the focus has to be. The next generation of farmers need to think safety and speak up.”

Mark and Donna and Trish and Mark have shared their tips as part of WorkSafe’s ‘It’s never you, until it is’ campaign.

For more strategies to stay safe while working alone, visit WorkSafe Victoria.