Electrical perceptions in agriculture

Overhead power lines on farms pose a significant risk to farmers, contractors, and individuals operating heavy machinery near these lines. There have been 24 farm deaths in Australia over the past 20 years due to power line incidents. Accidents, injuries, and illnesses related to power lines are often under-reported or unreported in farm businesses. It is crucial to address these issues to prioritize the safety of those involved in agricultural work.

We have partnered with Essential energy and Deakin University and the National Centre for Farmer Health to identify the key issues like:

• What is the prevalence of serious electrical incidents or near misses in agriculture in Australia and causes or contributing factors.
• What are the characteristics of the agricultural workforce and their understanding of electrical risks/harms.
• What are the characteristics of employers in the agricultural sector, i.e., agricultural corporation’s vs family-owned small-scale farms, and their respective understandings of electrical risks/harms and efforts to promote electrical safety awareness.
• What are the current tools/interventions designed or used to improve electrical safety awareness in agriculture, including their intended audience, their effectiveness, and the reasons for their lack of uptake.

Through surveys, interviews and workshops with farmers, farm representatives and key stakeholders on practices, near misses and perception of risk, we will answer the key questions. We will design an intervention to address the key knowledge gaps and identify points to leverage behaviour change to reduce fatality and injury associated with electrical safety.

Read the full review (PDF, 1183.72 KB).