Training with visual aids, less text, and targeted translation is helping vegetable growers keep their overseas workers safe.
Seasonal worker Rimpi Khakh is happy picking zucchini on a farm at Shepparton East in Victoria.Most of her co-workers for this harvest season are from the same region in Punjab and have been trained to do the work by their employer Bill Khakh.
"He always says daily something about safety, and he always guides us how to pick, how to pack, and what are the safety rules. He guides us in everything."Mr Khakh is easily able to communicate with this group of workers, coming originally from the same region of India, but that's not always the case."Japanese people come and sometimes don't understand, or just a little bit." Mr Khakh also hires English, Dutch, and German backpackers, as well as Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Indonesian workers, usually for two-month periods.With so many workers from different countries playing a vital role in Australia's agricultural industry, Veg Education has worked with WorkSafe Victoria to develop a new safety program with visual aids and messages in several targeted languages.Veg Education director Neil Salvador said workers from South-East Asia, the Pacific islands, and Asia report a very high standard of farm safety in Australia. "When we talk to the farm owners and farm managers here, their view is that there are some issues. But they are overwhelmed by how to deal with it," he said.Agriculture is one of the deadliest industries in the country, according to the most recent statistics from government agency Safe Work Australia, from 2022. "Seventy-five per cent of those deaths relate to mobile equipment, so that's tractors, forklifts, trailers, and trucks. Any time workers are around those large pieces of equipment there is a significant risk of injury," Mr Salvador said.While there were no fatalities specifically in the mushroom and vegetable growing sector in 2022, there were 14 deaths between 2013 and 2022, according to Safe Work Australia.Mr Khakh first started growing vegetables in 1999 at Lake Boga, near Swan Hill in northern Victoria, before moving to Shepparton East 14 years ago. "Planting takes two days, and after three months you can start picking and the money starts coming in, compared to fruits and all the others that only pay once a year," he said.Working with Veg Education has shown him there are better and safer ways to do some things on the farm. "If we're doing the shortcut way they're teaching us the better way — to do and not to do the things," he said."Many of them come every year, the season comes and they're here two or three months. They know what to do because we teach them every year.Veg Education managing director Catherine Velisha is a third-generation horticulture farmer. She said there was definitely a gap in the market for multicultural training, given culturally and linguistically diverse workers make up at least 11 per cent of Australia's agricultural workforce." covers basic things like how to use machinery safely, what kind of safety clothing you should be wearing, working with chemicals ... for people who might have no understanding about the risks when they're entering a new workplace," she said."There's definitely a real thirst for tangible tools that keep everyone safe."Safety advocates warn against 'I've done it a million times' approach after four deaths on Queensland farms in 2024Workplace Accidents and IncidentsThe perfect day to keep heart problems away has been calculated, but is it possible to live up to?Older people waiting months for help to live safely at home under strained government program Childhood abuse was responsible for Ange’s teenage outbursts. A new study looks at ways to address the mental health crisis'My gut dropped': What the HECS changes mean if you've recently paid off your student loanWith men mobilised for war, women are stepping into a dangerous role in Ukraine Most economists see Tuesday's budget as an opportunity to rein in spending and bring down inflation — not Ken HenryThis development met council approvals but now residents can't get their bins emptiedRise of mortgage brokers transforms the profit banks once made on home loansThe 'left field' treatment that healed my torn ACL naturally
Seasonal Workers Crops Horticulture Agriculture Farming Farm Safety Harvest CALD Language Education Training Shepparton Workplace Safety Safe Work
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