Despite a decline in farming-related deaths from 2017 to 2018, there is still work to be done on farm safety.
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With that in mind, National Farm Safety Week is held each year in the hopes of raising awareness of farm safety issues across Australia.
The week, held this year from July 21 to 26, has been running successfully for the past 19 years and provides an opportunity for farm safety issues with a national focus to be put in the spotlight.
According to new research, tractors and quad bikes remain the leading causes of injury on Australian farms but deaths from both vehicles have declined significantly since 2017.
The work funded by AgriFutures Australia shows fatal accidents caused by tractors fell from 13 to nine and deaths involving quads fell from 11 to six in the 12 months from 2017 to 2018.
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AgriFutures Australia managing director, John Harvey said the number of farming-related deaths remains alarming.
"While some progress has been made in specific areas, the overall numbers are telling us that more still needs to be done," Mr Harvey said.
AgriFutures funds research into enhancing farm health and safety under its National Rural Issues Program and is lead agency for the newly-formed RDC-funded Rural Safety and Health Alliance (RSHA).
"We know the impact of accidents across Australia's agriculture industry is significant," Mr Harvey said.
RSHA chair, Patrick Murphy pointed out that while there is a huge social cost associated with fatal on-farm injuries, there is also a significant economic impact which is estimated to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Mr Murphy said the cost includes factors such as loss of earnings, insurance payouts, work cover and police investigations, coronial costs, premature funeral costs, ambulance and hospital expenditure and loss of household contributions.
"While the figures are clearly shocking and the number of deaths in the sector needs to be urgently addressed, this research gives us a clear understanding of where the trouble spots are," Mr Murphy said.
Tractors, quads, motorbikes and horses accounted for almost half of all farm accidents.