Program aim

Action research to assist rural Australians to attain improved levels and health and well-being by reducing the incidence and severity of injury and illness associated with life and work in agriculture

A strong basis for the research program

This program is led by Associate Professor Lyn Fragar at the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety and brings together an inter-disciplinary, inter-sectoral team of researchers working in partnership with the agricultural industry in a directed program of research and development. The program is unique in its approach in bringing public health derived information and approaches into the agricultural sector and in building partnerships with various agricultural agencies to address health and safety problems. The Centre has a strong track record in winning competitive research grants through agricultural research funding bodies, publication of reports, papers, conference presentations, and an unparalleled record of translation of its findings into changed and improved agricultural health policy and practice.

Key stakeholders are engaged in setting and implementing the research agenda

The approach taken by this program is an action research approach and thence all research projects are overseen by project reference groups that include relevant practicing farmers/worker and/or health practitioners, relevant industry organisation representatives and external experts in the field. T he role that the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety plays in maintaining the Farmsafe Australia and the Farmsafe NSW networks provides the framework within which priority research and development issues are identified and addressed, and within which research results and products are adopted and disseminated.

In the next 3-5 years

Review of the agricultural health research program was undertaken with agriculture industry input and adopted by the Collaboration Advisory Council in early 2005, and the research agenda for the program was framed for the next 3-5 years.

• Maintenance of the National Farm Injury Data Centre activities providing the relevant data for the other projects.
• Development and testing of benchmark standards for agricultural health and safety performance to allow farmers, farm groups, industry groups to review and compare their performance against evidence-based standards of best practice.
• Institution of a longitudinal study of farm enterprises and their household members, and a research program to address:
• Identification of risk factors for farm injury
• Knowledge and attitude to farm safety, and ‘what it takes’ for adoption of improved OHS in farm businesses
• Mental health and well-being of adult farm household members, relationship to access to mental health services and relationship to family and business outcomes

This project has received peer-reviewed competitive funding

• Action research to achieve improved farm child safety, farm workshop safety, ATV safety and farm machinery guarding
• Action research to achieve improved All-terrain vehicle safety (a major cause of farm deaths across Australia)
• Research for improving the safety of older farmers, in association with national and NSW Healthy Ageing programs
• Research and strategy development for injury prevention for Aboriginal and Torres Trait Islander rural workers
• Defining effective collaborative arrangements with area health services of NSW

Team:
Kirrily Pollock – ACAHS
John Temperley – ACAHS
Dr Bhoopathy Sankaran, - ACAHS
Associate Professor Jeff Fuller – NRUDRH
Professor Brian Kelly – CRRMH
Amanda Henderson - ACAHS
Julie Depczynski – ACAHS
Christine Morton – ACAHS
Richard Franklin – ACAHS
Wayne Baker – ACAHS
Kerry-Lynn Start – ACAHS