“As a farmer, we have a responsibility - first of all to my family and to everybody else that comes onto the farm. For our contractors, for our stock agents, the transporters, anybody that comes onto the farm, we have an obligation to look after them,” says Peter Miller, a cattle farmer from Almurta, Victoria.
Peter knows firsthand the dangers of working with livestock, so he’s made it his mission to improve his cattle yards to make them safer for not just his family, but also others who work on the farm. This includes contractors and stock agents, who he considers to be his friends.
While making the improvements Peter has taken advice from visiting contractors and stock agents. He knows that spending 10 minutes hanging a gate can make a life-saving difference for everyone on his farm.
His yards are homemade, but they show that any farmer can build safe yards.
Peter had a near-miss situation in his cattle yards and says he’s one of the lucky ones because he’s still around to tell the story.
“I was loading cattle myself one day in the race, where you shouldn't be, but there's no other option because of the way it was designed and built. The worst thing happened because a heifer was coming out of that truck, and there was nowhere for me to go. I was quite lucky that she wasn’t big and we managed to both pass one another in the race but if she had knocked me down, she would have gone straight over the top of me.”
Near-miss experiences like this are part of the reason Peter has since made changes to how he and livestock transporters load cattle on his property. One practical change is that no cattle service provider is allowed to work alone.
Timboon livestock agent Tim agrees that having a safe work environment is the least farmers can do for the safety of people who visit and work on their properties. He also believes open dialogue between farmers and agents is essential to safer farms now and in the future.
“I’m always happy to initiate those conversations. When I visit a farm, I sort of take the lead for my own safety if I’m going to work in the livestock yards. So that way if there's any safety issues there, we can address it straight away with the farmer," Tim said.
For Tim, experiencing a workplace fatality has given him a unique perspective on safety that differs from many other experienced agents and farmers. This is why he’s passionate about sharing his perspective, particularly with the next generation.
“I live with what I saw every day. When I sit down and talk to a farmer and say, ‘I've seen what happens when things are only 95% right’, I feel that I've got a good way of engaging the farmer to get them to respond and make a positive change.”
His message for livestock agents and farmers alike is: “if it’s not safe, make it safe. If you can't make it safe, don't do it.”
Timboon livestock agent Tim is passionate about promoting farm safety. Pic: Supplied
Peter and Tim have shared their stories as part of WorkSafe Victoria’s ‘It’s never you, until it is’ campaign, which promotes farm safety and highlights that injuries and death on farms are preventable.
Livestock is the second highest killer on farms – we all know cattle can be unpredictable. Alongside the beef cattle industry, WorkSafe has developed new cattle handling information to help keep everyone safe, visit worksafe.vic.gov.au/safer-cattle-handling
