FARMSTRONG
Study shows on-farm wellbeing, injury link Research undertaken by rural wellbeing initiative Farmstrong has established the link between diminished wellbeing and on-farm injuries.
T
he study of 500 farmers receiving ACC quantified the extent to which diminished wellbeing had contributed to their accident. The results were telling – 58% reported that an aspect of diminished wellbeing had contributed to their accident. Nearly a quarter (24%) identified diminished wellbeing as a major contributor. The most mentioned factors were fatigue/exhaustion, lack of sleep, not coping with the ups and downs of farming, needing a break from the farm, and having too much to do and not enough time. On the positive side, the study also found that farmers who engaged with Farmstrong were less likely than others to report diminished wellbeing being a major contributor to a more serious injury. Last year, over 18,000 farmers, growers and farm workers engaged in Farmstrong. Twenty-two percent attributed an improvement in their wellbeing to their involvement, with 13% reporting a moderate to large improvement. Here are some insights dairy farmers have shared on the topic. n
Tangaroa Walker, contract milker Southland. “You’ve got to be on the ball, every minute of every day on a dairy farm. We’re working with five-tonne machinery and working with livestock,” he says. “It’s funny isn’t it? We do farming
courses and learn about all these things, but nowhere do you learn about how to look after yourself by eating properly or making sure you call a friend when you’re stressed. No one teaches you that. That’s why I think Farmstrong’s the best thing since sliced bacon.”
Paul and Pip Walker run a 300-cow, 90-hectare dairy farm in Pongakawa. “I learned the hard way about how hazardous fatigue can be,” he says. “Ten years ago I was very tired after calving and we were having issues with an old fanbelt driven water pump. I went to check it and realised there was a burr in the belt, but because I was exhausted, rather than turn the machine off, without thinking I put my hand in the middle and it went through the pulley. It caught me and I lost a finger. “It was a hell of a lesson – you’re not much use on a farm when you’re tired. When you’re tired, the simplest of decisions and tasks can become very difficult.”
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DAIRY FARMER
November 2020
