On farm health and safety – your next steps

19 Jul 2016
Author: DTI Lawyers
 

In our recent article www.dtilawyers.co.nz/on-farm-health-and-safety we reviewed obligations of farm owners with regard to the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

In that article, we set out important considerations regarding health and safety policies, to assist farm owners in reviewing their obligations under the new legislation, and ensuring that their operations are safe and healthy.

Having implemented sound health and safety policies, in addition to those considerations, we also recommend that farm owners move to consider whether there are any additional practical steps you could take to ensure your written health and safety plan is actually carried out in practice, such as:

  • Use of a farm diary that records any discussions with employees about health and safety matters, any maintenance undertaken on farm machinery or equipment etc;Implementation of new Farm Rules and clear employment policies that set out the potential disciplinary consequences for employees who breach these rules;
  • Improving communication channels with and between employees (e.g. better use of emails, weekly meetings, notice boards etc to ensure all employees are aware of any new H&S matters);
  • Implementation of signs reminding employees/contractors/visitors of health and safety obligations and/or warning them of hazards;
  • Providing further training to employees to ensure they have the skills and ability to carry out their tasks safely, as well as understand their own obligations to identify and manage workplace hazards;


  • Use of a farm hazards map, which is regularly updated and can be provided to contractors and visitors to the farm.
  • These simple, practical steps will guide you to ensuring that you keep on top of farm safety and that you are minimising risks that arise within your workplaces.
  • Implementation of new Farm Rules and clear employment policies that set out the potential disciplinary consequences for employees who breach these rules;
  • Improving communication channels with and between employees (e.g. better use of emails, weekly meetings, notice boards etc to ensure all employees are aware of any new H&S matters);
  • Implementation of signs reminding employees/contractors/visitors of health and safety obligations and/or warning them of hazards;Providing further training to employees to ensure they have the skills and ability to carry out their tasks safely, as well as understand their own obligations to identify and manage workplace hazards;
  • Use of a farm hazards map, which is regularly updated and can be provided to contractors and visitors to the farm.

These simple, practical steps will guide you to ensuring that you keep on top of farm safety and that you are minimising risks that arise within your workplaces.



 
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