Emergency Preparedness for farms and farm workers
Being prepared for emergencies on your farm means your employees are at a decreased risk of fatality, injury or other complications.
Be prepared with appropriate First Aid Kits
Being prepared for an emergency on a farm means providing First Aid kits that are appropriate to farm work and the environment in which it occurs. First Aid kits should contain items suitable to treat the types of injuries that occur on a farm – and there should be enough kits for everyone to easily have access to one.
First Aid kits on any farm should be suitable for treating a range of emergencies, such as:
- Snake/spider bites
- Sprains, cuts, burns
- Broken bones
- Crush injuries
- Electrocution
- Drowning
- Eye injuries
- Amputations
- Quad bike injuries
A Farm Manager can source appropriate First Aid kits from a number of places, including St John Ambulance, Australian Red Cross, chemists, hardware stores etc.
First Aid Training for your farm
It is essential that a number of people working on your farm be trained in First Aid. First Aid training can be undertaken at a number of organisations, including the Australian Red Cross, St John Ambulance, Rural Fire Services, and TAFE colleges.
The more people that are trained in First Aid on your farm, the better chance you have of keeping people alive in an emergency situation. Farm Managers should encourage their employees to undertake training (during work time, and the employee should not have to pay).
Have a Farm Emergency Plan in place on your farm
Every farm needs to have good communication channels in place (two-way radios, mobile phones, and Personal EPIRBs) and an Emergency Plan that all people on the farm are aware of (even visitors and children).
Injured people need to be given medical help in a hospital as soon as possible. This should be the focus of your farm’s Emergency Plan. Medical attention from a doctor helps to quickly reduce the likelihood of fatality or serious/permanent injury.
As a Farm Manager, you should plan for emergencies that include fire, floods and storms, poisoning and machinery-related accidents.
It is important that everyone be aware of the Emergency Plan – you may want to carry out test-runs of different emergency scenarios to make sure that everyone knows what to do.
Emergency Contact Cards
Make sure that Emergency Contact Cards are in place beside all phones and two-ways on your farm. The card should have details and directions to the farm that can be easily conveyed to emergency services (so the ambulance or police know where to travel!).
Farm work, especially in remote or isolated areas, can be very dangerous, and so it is vital to do as much as possible to be prepared for any emergency situation.
In an emergency, dial 000 for help from an ambulance, the police or fire brigade.
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