Number of farm accidents expected to rise amid pressures of Covid-19 pandemic

December 13, 2020

The lockdowns had seen a big reduction in workplace injuries.

While this year’s Covid-19 lockdowns resulted in a significant drop in workplace injuries, the total number of accidents on farms is expected to rise.

Now work is being done to lift wellbeing and safety at the same time, with farmers in Canterbury unwinding from working the land by working out.

“Sole charge on a farm, you can kind of lose yourself in it. This is my escape, this is my chance to get out with these guys,” sheep and beef farmer Alistair Bird said.

While many workplaces all but shut down for large parts of 2020, the daily grind for farmers haven’t slowed.

“The cows got milked, the milk got picked up every day so it was pretty much business as usual,” dairy farmer Geoff Spark said.

“When you're feeling under the pump, the risk of an accident happening is bound to be there.”

ACC projects workplace injuries across all sectors will fall this year from 240,000 to 210,000 - a drop of almost 13 per cent.

However ACC projections show agricultural injuries will likely rise, up four per cent on last year.

“More work, more activity, unfortunately can lead to more injuries,” Virginia Burton-Konia, ACC’s implementation manager for levy and workplace safety, said.

The agency is supporting rural wellbeing programmes, such as Farmstrong, hosting events such as the Oxman triathlon.

“The more that farmers work together to get off the farm, to get physically fit, then we'll end up with less injuries,” Burton-Konia said.

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