Falls from heights
Falls from heights
The main cause of death and injury are falls from silos, windmills, buildings, and farm machinery during maintenance and harvest activities.
SafeWork NSW and industry agree:
- SafeWork NSW will engage with manufacturers to ensure new silos are designed to incorporate ground level working devices to reduce the need to work at heights
- industry, supported by SafeWork NSW, will initiate a communications strategy to raise awareness of the risks of working at heights and the various controls to minimise risks
- SafeWork NSW will engage with manufacturers to ensure that machinery is designed and equipped to eliminate or significantly reduce fall risks associated with access during maintenance or harvest operations.
We will know if we are on track if:
- by 2018, 100% of all new silos for sale are fitted with ground level working devices, minimising the need for work at heights
- silos on farms with ground level working devices and/or working at heights risk controls fitted increases when inspected during SafeWork NSW site visits
- by 2022, serious claims caused by falls from heights drop 30% using agricultural specific baseline data (2013/14 to 2015/16).