Getting started

Introduction

Every farm is different and even though there are similarities in work practices and risks, every farm needs its own risk control solutions to achieve the best safety outcomes. The Farm Safety Manual (FSM) aims to make it straightforward for dairy farmers to build and improve a comprehensive farm safety system.

While building and piloting the Farm Safety Manual with dairy farmers, the advice was for a hard copy Farm Safety Manual folder, online access to key documents and templates, as well as support to build and improve their farm safety systems via workshops and opportunities to discuss farm safety with experts. 

Folders are available by attending a Farm Safety Manual workshop, which will take you through using Manual on your farm and allow you to ask farm safety experts your questions. Workshops are managed and held regionally.

Browse the 14 Farm Safety topics and download each module which contains key documents, templates and checklists to use on your farm, as and when you need them and build your own Farm Safety Manual.

Resources

The Getting Started (full module) is available to download and includes:

Induction checklist: no employee can walk into a new job and be fully effective from the first day – effectiveness grows with understanding of the farm and the details of its operation. It is important to ensure that every employee receives appropriate induction training. An induction checklist will help you remember the important things to cover during the induction. 

Incident report log: all injuries, accidents and incidents that occur in a workplace must be recorded – use the templates provided to set up a reporting system on your farm that everyone is encouraged to use. This includes an incident and industry register, investigation report and hazard / near miss report templates.