Page 8 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Adding strength to farm biosecurity – is your biosecurity registration current?
IF you own or keep one or more pigs in Queens- land, you need to make sure you’re registered as a biosecurity entity and your current contact de- tails are recorded.
Registration helps keep you informed in a pest or disease emergency.
It also allows Bio- security Queensland to quickly locate animals and trace their move- ments, protecting the in- dustry and maintaining market access.
You must be registered even if you operate a hold- ing facility where pigs are kept (such as saleyards, transit centres, abattoirs or slaughterhouses).
If you held a property identification code on July 1, 2016, you were au-
tomatically registered as a biosecurity entity based on your PIC details, so it’s important to check your contact information is up to date.
What you need to do
First, check if you’re registered online at qld. gov.au/BiosecurityRegis- tration
If your details can’t be matched, you’ll be prompted to contact Bio- security Queensland to
complete your registra- tion and ensure your de- tails are up to date.
If you’re already reg- istered as a biosecurity entity and your details can be matched, you’ll be prompted how to activate your online account and can update your contact details online.
Start at qld.gov.au/Bios- ecurityRegistration
More information
For more information,
or if you need help to check your registration and update your contact information, you can con- tact the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries on132523.
Pork Queensland Inc welcomes the application of registration of anyone farming pigs in Queens- land.
PQI encourages all pork farmers to review their current status using the links in this article.
Being a registered bio- security entity is also a prerequisite to the appli- cation of greater trespass penalties aligned to the associated regulations.
Should you require fur- ther information on this topic, you can call me on 0406 622 166.
President’s Perspective
by JOHN COWARD
Farm safety gains traction but improvements needed
TRACTORS and quad bikes remain the leading causes of injury on Australian farms but deaths from both vehicles have declined significantly since 2017, according to new research.
The AgriFutures Australia-funded work shows fatal accidents caused by tractors fell from 13 to nine and deaths involving quads fell from 11 to six in the 12 months from 2017 to 2018.
AgriFutures Austral- ia managing director John Harvey said the number of farming- related deaths remains alarming.
“While some pro- gress has been made in specific areas, the overall numbers are telling us more still needs to be done,” Mr Harvey said.
AgriFutures funds re- search into enhancing farm health and safety under its National Ru- ral Issues Program and is lead agency for the newly formed RDC- funded Rural Safety and Health Alliance.
“We know the impact of accidents across Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries is signifi- cant,” Mr Harvey said.
“Australia’s RDCs have a renewed focus on reshaping, refocus- ing and regrouping to address the issue,” Mr Harvey said.
“The RSHA will clarify research, de- velopment and exten- sion priorities based on risk, provide stronger accountability for funders and funding recipients to deliver a return on investment, support practical ex- tension, and underpin clear and visible lead- ership across the agri- cultural sector.”
The report, Non-in- tentional Farm Related Incidents in Australia, was developed us- ing data collected by AgHealth Australia’s
National Farm Injury Coronial Database, based at the University of Sydney.
RSHA Chair Patrick Murphy pointed out that while there is a huge so- cial cost associated with fatal on-farm injuries, there is also a signifi- cant economic impact which is estimated to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Mr Murphy said the cost includes factors such as loss of earnings, insurance payouts, work cover and police investi- gations, coronial costs, premature funeral costs, ambulance and hospital expenditure and loss of household contributions.
“While the figures are clearly shocking and the number of deaths in the sector needs to be urgently addressed, this research gives us a clear understanding of where the trouble spots are,” Mr Murphy said.
The research shows nearly 90 percent of farm-related accidents since 2001 involved males, with close to 50 percent of all reported accidents involving men over 50 years.
Tractors, quads, mo- torbikes and horses ac- counted for almost half of all farm accidents.
“Equally concerning is that nearly 15 per- cent of deaths involved children under 15 years and farm vehicles in- cluding cars, motor- bikes and utilities were the leading cause of these fatal accidents,” Mr Murphy said.
Mr Harvey said the RSHA is working to- gether to connect in- dividuals and commit- ted organisations to improve safety across Australia’s agricultur- al, fisheries and for- estry industries.
“I encourage people to visit the RSHA web- site and register to keep up to date with pro- gress on this important issue,” he said.
www.rsha.com.au
Page 8 – Australian Pork Newspaper, May 2019
www.porknews.com.au