Removing the Blinkers from Risk

The agricultural and equine sectors have some of the highest injury and fatality rates of any Australian industry, claiming a staggering 1 in 5 workplace fatalities in Australia. Due to the seasonal nature of the work, agriculture employs a high number of international staff.  With these high rates, and visiting contractors, making sure all working visitors to each site are inducted to site specific policies and procedures is an enormous challenge, and no doubt a contributing factor to the high rate of workplace safety incidents.

Locatrix and Safe Industries Australia (SIA) work together to bring specialised agricultural and equine work health and safety inductions into the PlanSafe platform, giving employees in the industry a digital medium to deliver safety inductions.

‍

Connection & Growth

SIA and Locatrix met 7 years ago through a shared connection, Segenhoe Stud. At the time, Locatrix offered a unique opportunity through the PlanSafe platform to deliver online safety inductions rather than the traditional paper-based manual delivery. From this introduction, SIA and Locatrix have partnered to deliver customisable online work health and safety platforms to a host of clients across the agricultural and equine industries.

Since the partnership commenced, SIA has worked with PlanSafe to provide customisable online safety induction platforms for over 65 customers, collectively ensuring the safety of over 3,500 registered learners.

‍

A Safety Evolution

Initially, the digital safety induction platforms addressed Horse Racing. Since then SIA has expanded into equine, veterinary hospitals, abattoirs, and farms.  The content library is specially tailored with procedures on how to work with animals and machinery, ensuring that learners are trained in the correct procedures and methodologies to perform in the workplace.

As SIA have grown, they have recognised the need to engage a specialist in the field who has seen firsthand the issues faced.

‍

New Safety Bloodstock

Garry Cuddy has joined SIA as National Sales Manager.  Starting in the industry as a Bloodstock assistant with Australian racing notable –Vin Cox out of school, horses and the breeding side of the thoroughbred industry have always been his main passion of which he has been able to make a career from for the past 20 years. 

Having been a client of SIA for over 8 years during his time as General Manager at Spendthrift Australia, Garry sees an obvious synergy with SIA, particularly in their genuine belief in improving safety for the most at risk employees in Australia.

‍

“The main challenge faced in the industry is the old school mentality of thinking it will never happen to me.  By raising awareness of the importance of safe work practices, we hope to highlight the need of safety training that PlanSafe and SIA can address.”

Cuddy states.

‍

Garry recognises that safety induction training is not just about inducting employees, it’s just as much about educating employers too.

“Another issue I see frequently is education for the employer, it’s so important to highlight their legislative responsibility in ensuring staff are provided the information they need to keep safe. With the added challenges of staff shortages, the risks to unskilled workers in the workplace is something that in my mind, doesn’t get the awareness it desperately needs.”

Garry states.

‍

Not only is education for employers and employees critical, so is record keeping ensuring legislative compliance. Garry states one of the biggest advantages for employers through the PlanSafe and SIA platform is the platforms ability to record keep all training and inductions. 

“One of our client’s biggest gaps when we start talking with them is record keeping. The SIA and PlanSafe platform reflect up to the minute records of inductions, our clients love that the induction training and records are all kept in one easy to access place.” 

“Workplace accidents are often seen as bad luck, having worked as General Manager of Spendthrift Australia luck plays a big part in all forms of failure and success. However hard work and due diligence can help you to remove the reliance of "Luck" from some situations. A platform like the one we provide at SIA is there for the times that could save you or one of your staff members from experiencing bad luck. We are there to protect you and your staff and to ensure that everyone knows the standards set within your workplace and make sure that everyone knows that "Safety Never Sleeps".