News
The Fallen Farmer
ACC is tapping into the voice of experience for its new rural safety campaign, using the true stories of farmers who have suffered long-term injuries to tell other farmers that the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude just isn’t worth the risk.
Between July 2006 and June 2007, 4500 farmers were injured so badly they weren’t off work for just a few days, they were off work for weeks or even months. Some of those farmers would have been so badly injured that they ultimately had to give up their farms and their rural lifestyle.
"Farmers are by nature practical and self-reliant people," said Peter Jones, ACC's Agriculture Programme Manager. "But, although they’re aware their job is inherently dangerous, their sense of 'can-do' leads to them do jobs or activities that they may not have the skills or the equipment for. That can easily end in injury."
Mr Jones said it appears many farmers think that getting injured is just part of being a farmer and that if it happens they just have to 'harden up' and get on with it.
"If a farmer is badly injured their lifestyle and income is at serious risk. Not only must they pay someone else to do their job for them, they may never be able to farm again. That’s a pretty good motivator to make farmers think seriously about the effects of an injury," Mr Jones said.
"We know that farmers learn best from other farmers so ACC is using the true stories of injured farmers who want to help others learn from their mistakes. Each of these farmers realise that what they were doing was dangerous, but they thought they could get away with it one more time."
The stories will run over the next few months in some rural media alongside advertisements with the tag line 'If you’re injured, you take the farm with you.'
"That's the big message for farmers," said ACC's Peter Jones. "We know that farmers hate rules and regulations, so we want other farmers to help them understand that they are the only ones who can be responsible for protecting everything they hold dear."
For more information about safety on the farm, go to the ACC website.
