Many of you are probably aware that changes are planned in the area of health and safety in the work environment. Work Safe NZ has been formed to replace OSH and they appear to have a much more aggressive and focused attitude in terms of enforcing regulations (especially pertaining to farming) if a recent meeting I attended is anything to go by.
While owners and managers will need to focus on ensuring they have safe working environments for employees now, they are also responsible for ensuring the safety of outside contractors etc are also covered off. As veterinarians going on farm we will fall into this category. Our veterinarians and staff have been instructed that if they feel their safety is compromised on farm or they experience an accident or near miss they must inform the client and practice management immediately. To protect our employees and ensure the client and vet club do not face a future situation leading to possible prosecution, the identified threat to safety must be removed or minimised before further veterinary work can be carried out.
It would pay all our farming clients to ensure they understand where work and safety is heading, their obligations and how they can best manage this area. (It is more than just helmets on quad bikes.)