Measuring profitability and productivity impacts of improved farm safety

The Australian agricultural industry has seen a troubling rise in fatalities and serious incidents over recent years. Farmsafe Australia reported over 70 fatalities in 2024, a stark increase from 32 the previous year.  Grain industry data prepared by the Ag Safety Data Net underscores this concern, with 40 deaths on grain farms over the past decade, costing the community $120 million. 
Similarly, serious non-fatal incidents (> 5 days LTI) and minor non-fatal incidents (< 5 days LTI) have also increased on grain farms over the past 5 years, totalling 1870 (+414) and 1020 (+30) respectively.  While minor incidents have not risen as sharply in the data, researchers believe this is due to under reporting to avoid increased insurance premiums and investigations.
 
A consultancy completed by ORM for GRDC in Nov 2024 reviewed the current landscape surrounding OH&S on grain farms and identified where GRDC can provide high impact investment to help steward cultural change in the industry.  Via grower and industry stakeholder focus groups, the report identified there were limited examples of on farm safety systems being proactively deployed. It further identified diverse barriers to the adoption of safe farm practices and recommended a multi-faceted approach to overcome these barriers.