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Targeted farm safety awareness campaigns have helped reduce the average number of fatalities on Australian properties from 150 to an average of just below 100 in the past 10 years.

However, the leading cause of deaths on Australian farms remains in accidents involving tractors and farm vehicles, while the farm workshop is the most common place for farm injuries to eyes and hands. Unguarded grain augers and PTO shafts are the most common cause of injury resulting in amputation.

And with the grains industry having a greater requirement for growers to work day-to-day with machinery, it is still one of the more dangerous industries in which to be working.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation recently teamed with other research and development corporations to produce a new guide to farm safety, Managing Grain Production Safety.

Speaking on the GRDC’s latest Driving Agronomy 2010 audio compact disc for the southern region, Farmsafe Australia executive officer John Temperley says there is no more dangerous time of year for injury than during harvest.

He says accidents are more common as growers experience periods of intense pressure in trying to get grain off to meet deadlines, such as organising trucks to cart grain to beat wet weather.

There is also often a spate of injury around January and February as grain is moved off-farm, and seed is being treated, particularly with grain augers, belts and pulleys, and people falling off silos and trucks.

Farm safety is becoming even more important given the increasing average age of farmers.

John says the key for growers is to minimise dangers by engineering the problems out of their farms. Simple things such as fitting rollover protection to tractors, installing silo lids that close from the ground or guards to grain augers can save lives and avoid injury.

He says the guide contains practical advice and information for grain growers, farm managers and workers who handle grain. More importantly, it uses information collected from farmers as a practical way to prevent injury, particularly during busy farm periods.

He believes every farm-related death and injury is avoidable and that loss of life and reduced quality of life from injury can be prevented. Farm-related deaths and injuries also create a significant economic burden for farmers, their families and rural communities.

Farmsafe Australia is an association of national agencies sharing a common interest in farm safety, and plays a key role in helping farmers set priorities for farm safety.

According to Farmsafe, tractors, farm vehicles, quad bikes and farm machinery are the most common causes of death and injury on farms while dams, rivers and creeks are major risk areas for children on farms.

More than 60 per cent of farmers and farm workers have some level of hearing injury and loss which is largely attributable to long-term exposure to high noise levels.

The GRDC Driving Agronomy 2010 audio compact disc for the southern region is available free (plus postage and handling) through GRDC’s Ground Cover Direct – freecall 1800 110044 or email  Order number GRDC474.

Managing Grain Production Safety can be ordered at www.rirdc.gov.au