Wools of NZ partners with Asthma & Respiratory Foundation
Wools of New Zealand says it has chosen to partner with the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ in an effort to educate Kiwis around the health benefits of wool carpets.
WorkSafe is warning employers that fatigue from long hours of work must not compromise worker safety.
“Getting the job done is important, but not if the hours required to do it put workers at risk of injury or death,” says WorkSafe deputy general manager, investigations and specialist services, Simon Humphries.
His comments follow the sentencing of agricultural contractor Micheal Vining Contracting Limited in Huntly District Court.
The company was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $80,000 reparation plus $2656 in court costs.
In October 2016, a worker for the company had been assisting with harvesting operations on a farm in Pukekawa. He logged a 16.75 hour day before departing the farm, taking a tractor home in preparation for the next day’s work. At 2.45am he crashed the tractor and died as a result of injuries sustained during the accident.
WorkSafe’s investigation found that the worker had worked 197.25 hours in the two weeks leading up to the incident. Fatigue was identified as the most likely cause of the accident. The worker was also not wearing a seatbelt.
The company had a health and safety document prepared for them in January 2016. It identified fatigue as a high rating hazard and outlined management steps including the monitoring of work hours and break times.
“This document had not been reviewed or implemented,” Humphries says. “The warning was there and the company did nothing about it”.
“Seasonal work and tasks like harvest can put a huge amount of pressure on everyone involved. Managing the risks is essential. The life, health and wellbeing of your workers must be your number one priority”.
Leading farmers from around New Zealand connected to share environmental stories and inspiration and build relationships at the Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) national forum in Wellington last month.
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture fast-tracking emissions reduction tools for farmers, is pouring $5 million in a biotech company to develop a low emissions farm pasture with increased productivity gains.
Fonterra is teaming up with wealth app provider Sharesies to make it easier for its farmer shareholders to trade co-op shares among themselves.
Te Awamutu dairy farmers Doug, Penny, Josh and Bayley Storey have planted more than 25,000 native trees on the family farm, adding to a generations-old native forest.
OPINION: The Government's recent announcement that methane targets will be reviewed is bringing relief to farmers.
The merger of two of the country’s largest animal nutrition companies won’t lessen competition, the Commerce Commission has ruled.