Welcome to our February update. We look forward to sharing our insights with you this month.
From the Chair
Welcome to our second newsletter for 2025, which is now well and truly in full swing.
Having had time to reflect and review the previous 12 months, what have been your biggest learnings, and where are you going to invest your time and energy in to improve your safety systems?
I hope this month’s information is useful, but as Trialsafe is about sharing real stories, we would love to promote your success here. Please reach out and share what challenges you have successfully overcome or improvements you have made within the agricultural research industry and our members, as your solutions may provide inspiration for others.
Alan Harris
Trialsafe Chair
Sleep and Fatigue Management
Fatigue management is crucial in the agriculture industry for several reasons:
- Safety: Fatigue can significantly impair a farmer’s ability to operate machinery and perform tasks safely. This increases the risk of accidents and injuries on the farm.
- Productivity: Tired workers are less efficient and more prone to making mistakes. Proper fatigue management ensures that farmers can maintain a high level of productivity.
- Health and Wellbeing: Chronic fatigue can lead to long-term health issues, including mental health problems. Managing fatigue helps in maintaining the overall health and wellbeing of farmers.
- Compliance: There are regulations in place that require farmers to manage fatigue, especially when operating heavy vehicles. Compliance with these regulations is essential to avoid legal issues.
- Sustainability: Effective fatigue management contributes to the sustainability of farming operations by ensuring that farmers can continue to work efficiently and safely over the long term.
By addressing fatigue, the agriculture industry can improve safety, productivity, and the overall health of its workers, leading to more sustainable and efficient farming practices.
Dr Nick Mabbott is Director of Beyond Midnight Consulting and has over 25 years experience in sleep and fatigue management. He has provided fatigue management training and education to thousands of personnel, including those in the agricultural industry. If you feel that fatigue management is something that might benefit you and your operation, you can visit Beyond Midnight Consulting to find out more.
Trialsafe Podcast – Spray Safety
Agri chemicals are central to being able to produce the volumes of food needed to feed an ever-growing population. They also come with some risks, particularly so when it comes to handling them.
In episode four of our Trialsafe podcast series, we delve into the safe handling of farm chemicals and the importance of personal protective equipment when doing so.
You can listen to our spray safety podcast here.
Digital Tools – Risk Assessment
Digital tools can be incredibly effective in helping businesses become more efficient, saving valuable time and improving the accuracy and accessibility of data. However, they are not a replacement for what we do best. Instead, they should complement our strengths and streamline processes to allow us to focus on the areas where we provide the most value.
Risk Management is one of those essential areas that none of us can afford to overlook, however without the use of the right tools, it can be a daunting and time-consuming process. Below are just a couple of the many free tools available to you in this space.
The first the APHIRM toolkit OHS risk management toolkit | APHIRM toolkit. This is a free cloud-based tool that looks at both MSD risk and psychosocial risk. What we like about the toolkit is that it works through the entire risk assessment process, from identification through to generating actions and completing the circle with a review of actions implemented and assessment of overall effectiveness. It also ensures consultation and engagement with the team through the whole process.
The second tool is the People at Work survey. This is a free, Australian Government validated tool that assists in identifying potential psychosocial hazards in the workplace. The one limitation for this particular tool is that it requires a minimum of 20 responses for a report to be generated. However if this fits in to your business model, then it is a great resource that allows your staff to repeat the survey annually so that you can address issues and monitor for improvement.
What platforms are you using to stay on top of risk management in your business. Drop us a line, we would love to know!
Sponsor Recognition
Trialsafe would not be what it is today without the support of our generous sponsors. This month we recognise the contributions of one of our Bronze Sponsors – InterGrain.
As one of the leaders in cereal breeding in Australia, InterGrain offers market leading wheat, barley and oat varieties for growers. Their highly successful wheat, barley and oat breeding programs are designed to target the major cereal growing regions of Australia. It is InterGrain’s vision to support the competitive advantage and sustainability of the Australian agriculture sector.
InterGrain’s focus is breeding differentiated cereal varieties tailored to the Asian export market and they are globally recognised for their proven capability in the delivery of quality malting barleys and udon noodle wheats.
We thank InterGrain for their ongoing support of Trialsafe.
Trialsafe membership
Trialsafe relies on a strong membership base. We encourage you to continue to promote Trialsafe membership to anyone in the ag research space. Membership as an individual is free and it will allow you to be up to date with the latest news, information and upcoming events offered by Trialsafe.
To sign up, please click here for the Trialsafe membership link
Share your stories
Trialsafe is founded on the notion that we can improve the safety of our industry through the sharing of stories and open and constructive discussion. If you encounter any safety issues that you think should be raised with the Trialsafe community, please do get in touch.
Thank you for joining us again this month.
Best Wishes,
The Trialsafe Team
info@trialsafe.com.au
Please reach out if you have any questions or comments.