Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston and Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan were pleased with the outcome for yesterday's Farm Safety Summit and the constructive discussions that took place with key stakeholders in the Agriculture industry.
Speakers at the event included Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan, WorkSafe Commissioner Darren Kavanagh, WorkCover WA CEO Chris White and Chamber of Minerals and Energy Western Australia CEO Paul Everingham.
In the past 10 years, going back from 2018/19 financial year, there were 28 work-related deaths in the Agriculture sector.
As stated by Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston:
"The high number of workplace deaths is unacceptable, but what shocks me the most is that Agriculture has far more fatalities than any other industry, including construction and mining.
"Safety in Western Australia's Agriculture is a serious issue and it's important more than ever that Government and industry work together to improve workplace safety.
"At the Summit, we agreed that to improve workplace safety requires a cultural change and I understand this will be difficult to do, but it is achievable.
"Our ambition for Agriculture, is zero harm and zero deaths for workers.
"Thank you to the representatives from WA Farmers, SafeFarms WA, the Country Women's Association, the Shearing Industry Association, Farm Machinery & Industry Association, the Pastoralists and Graziers Association and the Stone Fruit Industry for coming to the event.
"The next step is to continue discussions with these groups and to meetup again in the next year to see what kind of enforcements the State Government can develop."
As stated by Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
"Safe workplaces improve productivity and profitability, and there is a real opportunity cost to agriculture in workplace safety - with an average of 96 days a year lost from compensation claims.
"It was clear from the Summit that industry wants to improve its record, and we are committed to working closely with the farming sector to identify areas of risk and the best strategies to address these."
Industrial Relations Minister's office - 6552 6700
