Nov 7th 2025 |
WorkSafe urges farmers to prioritise safety during the harvest season
WorkSafe has urged farmers to prioritise safety during the harvest season, asking growers across Western Australia to reassess risks, inspect machinery and equipment, and confirm that safe work procedures are being followed before crews return to the paddock.
Here is a short summary of the regulator's message, followed by the practical checks that prevent serious harm on farms at this time of year.
What WorkSafe has asked farmers to do
WorkSafe has provided a reminder to implement effective risk management procedures on farms, especially during the ongoing harvest.
In this financial year to date, eight workers in Western Australia have died due to workplace incidents, with three occurring in the agriculture sector, according to WorkSafe data.
Last week, two employees died on farms in the Wheatbelt and Great Southern, and earlier this year, a worker was killed at an agricultural site in Jarrahdale.
WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said it is essential for anyone managing a business to carry out a detailed risk evaluation of their work environment.
“Agriculture remains one of the highest-risk industries in the State and farmers are reminded to assess the risks in their workplace and ensure that safe work procedures are in place to minimise those risks” Ms North said.
Growers are also being urged to document those controls, because written procedures support compliance with the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) and give seasonal staff something concrete to follow.
Why harvest brings a high level of risk
Long shifts, tight weather windows and heavy plant moving between paddocks make late spring and summer the deadliest stretch of an agricultural calendar. Fatigue erodes judgement precisely when headers, chaser bins and road transport share the same ground.
Common hazards on farms during harvest
Identifying hazards early allows growers to install controls before harvest pressure builds. Serious incidents cluster around a predictable set of causes:
- Collisions involving headers, chaser bins, utes and public road traffic
- Entanglement in unguarded power take-off shafts, belts and augers
- Fires started by hot bearings, friction or bushfire conditions
- Falls from ladders, trailers and silo access platforms
- Noise, grain dust and chemical hazards such as fumigants; dust concentrations run high inside enclosed storage
- Contact with overhead powerlines when tall plant is raised
Machinery and equipment checks before the season starts
Most fatalities involve plant that was poorly maintained, badly guarded or operated by someone without training. Work through these checks with your crew before the first crop comes off:
- Guarding: confirm each drive shaft, belt and chain on harvest equipment sits behind a secure guard.
- Isolation: lock out and tag out plant before clearing blockages; never trust operating controls alone to hold equipment still.
- Fire readiness: fit extinguishers, water tanks and firefighting equipment to headers, bins and support vehicles.
- Electrical checks: test and tag portable equipment in workshops and sheds, guided by a documented Electrical Safety Policy.
- Restraints: operators should always ensure they wear seat belts in tractors, headers and other mobile equipment.
- Grain storage: keep handling equipment isolated during clearing, and treat silos as confined spaces requiring a permit.
- Records: log service history for every item of equipment so defects are traced and closed out.
Daily pre-start inspections give crews a simple way to withdraw faulty equipment from service before a breakdown becomes an injury. A digital Job Safety Analysis template lets supervisors capture those findings on a phone while standing beside the machine.
Contractors who bring their own equipment onto a property should hand over evidence of maintenance, operator competency and insurance before starting. Harvest labour hire arrangements do not transfer a grower's duty of care.
Training and authorisation matter as much as mechanical condition. Seasonal operators must be assessed as competent on the specific equipment they run, and safety and health representatives can help verify that induction actually happened.
Personal protective equipment — hearing protection, eyewear, respirators and sun cover — belongs in every vehicle rather than locked in a distant shed. Chemicals, meanwhile, should be stored clear of ignition sources and separated from equipment used to move grain.
Tools and resources for farm safety
Regulators including WorkSafe and interstate SafeWork counterparts publish free guidance on farm plant, silos and chemical storage. Growers who prefer ready-made documentation can pair that guidance with practical resources such as risk assessments, procedures and registers, then track completion using safety software instead of paper folders.
Regular compliance reviews at the end of each season help farms carry improvements into the next one. Our team is happy to help you choose the right templates — contact SafetyDocs support for assistance.
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