Farmsafe Australia has released its ‘Safer Farms 2024 Report’, of which WFI Insurance is the proud sponsor. The report published annually in line with National Farm Safety Week, is an important resource for farmers and their families, with the purpose of promoting safer work practices to save lives and limbs.
WFI Insurance Executive General Manager Andrew Beer said: “WFI Insurance is delighted to be an ambassador of Farmsafe Australia and we’re proud to support the publication of its ‘Safer Farms Report’. Our partnership with Farmsafe Australia aligns with our purpose, ‘to make your world a safer place’, and further deepens our commitment to helping agricultural communities better understand their risks and improving safety on farms.”
As one of Australia’s leading rural insurers, WFI Insurance has been managing farming risks for more than a century, and over that time, has garnered key insights on how farmers can better protect themselves and create safer work practices.
With 1,820 lives lost on Australian farms since 2001 and farming representing over one third of all national workplace deaths1, WFI Insurance is sharing recent farm incident data with the aim to raise awareness around areas of heightened risk.
Mr Beer said: “We see first-hand the adverse outcomes of when things go wrong on farms, where events can unfold quickly and often in remote locations. Many of the accidents we see are preventable, which can make it even more heartbreaking.
Over the past 12 months, WFI Insurance reports:
WFI claims data from the past five years shows:
Data highlights that key risk areas continue to centre around heavy machinery, large animals, and exposure to severe weather events, with farm property damage claims stemming from natural peril events increasing by 32% over the past year.
Fatigue and loss of concentration were frequently reported as contributing factors to machinery incidents, in addition to omitting important safety steps to execute tasks more rapidly.
Self-managed repairs to broken down machinery was recorded as a leading cause of injury, with examples of machinery not being properly disengaged prior to repairs commencing.
Mr Beer said: “Behind these statistics are people, whose lives, properties and livelihoods have forever been changed. Safety must always be the central consideration when working on farms.”
Aligned with the publication of the ‘Safer Farms 2024 Report’, WFI is releasing a special episode of its ‘Good People to Know’ podcast, featuring Chair of Farmsafe Australia, Felicity Richards who talks through the report’s findings, and how she is leading the charge to improve safety habits on farms.
Mr Beer concluded: “We applaud Farmsafe Australia for the ‘Safer Farms 2024 Report’, and look forward to continuing to work alongside them to help protect the safety and wellbeing of farmers, their families and their farms.”
To access Farmsafe Australia’s ‘Safer Farms 2024 Report’, please see: Safer Farms Report 2024 - Farmsafe
To listen to WFI’s ‘Good People to Know’ podcast featuring Chair of Farmsafe Australia, Felicity Richards, please visit: Harvesting Knowledge from the 2024 Safer Farms Report - Good People to Know | Podcast on Spotify