Why bother First Aid training in Agriculture?
The Agriculture Sector in Australia has some very ordinary (actually frightening) accident statistics currently. At the time of writing the agriculture sector employs approximately 3% of Australia’s workforce. But it represents 24% of the major injuries and fatalities at work.
We all understand that the nature of agriculture in Australia presents inherent risks that other workplaces aren’t necessarily exposed to. There is heavy machinery, working outdoors in secluded/remote areas and sometimes on less-than-ideal terrain. Some of us are working with animals and that brings its own unique risks. Anything from manual handling to being railed against the yard by a much larger beast!
And there is the added pressure of having time certain requirements of cropping, getting in before the weather changes, trucks arriving and leaving and many other factors you could all teach me about!
It might be easy to simply attribute injuries as ‘part of the job’. But is that really good enough? There is also the fact that many of the injuries could be lessened in severity by some basic First Aid training being put into practice. Many of the case studies I have looked have been made more severe by the lack of appropriate treatment/response through either panic at the time of incident or simply a lack of awareness of what the injury may be.
So why invest in First Aid training? We could say because we owe it to ourselves, our family and our staff to make sure if they are injured, we take the best possible care of them. But also, it has an economic return. Simply put, accidents and injuries cost money! Time lost, light duties or worst case, permanent disability may lead to a greatly reduced ability to achieve tasks. This reduces yield or requires extra staff to cover the shortfall.
If we can make sure we recognise and appropriately treat or sick or injured people, they will be back to full function much sooner, or maybe not off work at all!
An investment in First Aid training has a positive return in the longer term. It makes sense and cents!
If you would like more information about this topic or any others, purchase any First Aid stock or equipment, or to book a Remote Area First Aid course, please contact us on 0491 057 339 or email info@ruralandremotefirstaid.com.au
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By Scott Brown
Author bio:
For over 22 years Scott Brown has been training Remote Area First Aid across Australia. Having first joined Rural Ambulance Victoria in 2001 and working in the high-country in Victoria, he began teaching First Aid for Rural Ambulance Victoria. 22 years on, he works with some of Australia’s largest pastoral corporations and property managers that combined manage over 200,000 square kms of the Australian landscape.
Known for conveying detailed First Aid information in a relatable and relaxed way, Scott’s courses have become popular with Pastoral Property Managers, overseers and ringers alike. The highly practical course content ensures relevance to actual situations that are possible to encounter on a working property.
Scott continues to work with Ambulance Victoria alongside his First Aid training.