Farming and Fatigue - Growing Sensible Solutions
Description
Fatigue is a priority issue for Australian farmers. The agricultural sector has one of the highest rates of workplace injury in Australia, and a work-related fatality rate that is greater than all other Australian industries (10.4 fatalities per 100,000 workers). Fatigue has been identified as a priority hazard by the Rural Safety and Health Alliance (RSHA) with a focus on reducing the impacts of fatigue on farm.
The RSHA, supported by AgriFutures Australia, are supporting an 18-month project that will co-develop with industry a practical, user-friendly guide that will help agricultural enterprise of all sizes to understand, measure and manage fatigue on their farm.
Fatigue has been identified as industry wide priority and this project will combine the knowledge of people working in agriculture with cutting edge science and lessons learned from other industries by globally recognised experts in fatigue management. Focusing on the dairy, egg and broadacre industries initially, the fatigue management guide will include tools to help farmers identify where and why fatigue might be an issue in their operation (fatigue hot spots), and how to deploy controls to reduce the potential harms of fatigue without impacting production.
Fatigue is inevitably higher at some times of the year and at certain parts of the day for different individuals. Managing fatigue in the agricultural industry is about tailoring solutions to the situation so that operations remain safe and productive.
The team includes researchers from CQUniversity’s Appleton Institute (Sally Ferguson, Matthew Thomas, Maddy Sprajcer and Drew Dawson) and Agri-tech Education and Extension group in IFFS (Amy Cosby, Nicole McDonald and Jaime Manning), in collaboration with AgHealth at the University of Sydney (Kerri-Lynn Peachy, Tony Lower and Carlos Mesa Castrillon).
The project runs til September 2025.
Impact
Fatigue significantly impacts injury and productivity across all industries. In Australia, the cost of inadequate sleep and associated fatigue is estimated to be $18 billion in productivity losses, $40 billion in the loss of wellbeing, and over 3000 deaths annually.
For agriculture, fatigue has cost impacts in terms of personal injury, workers compensation, machine repairs, replacement of staff, delays in sowing/harvest and operational downtime. More broadly, there are flow-on effects to local rural communities from both an economic and social perspective. Effectively addressing the issue of fatigue, will assist farm businesses and rural communities in reducing these detrimental impacts.
Partners
Professor Sally Ferguson - Project Lead
Sally Ferguson is a Research Professor and Director of the Appleton Institute. Her research expertise is in sleep and circadian science, with applications specifically in workplace health and safety related to non-standard hours.
In the last ten years this key research interest has led to Sally asking questions about the relationship between sleep, wake and work patterns, particularly for those working shiftwork. Sally has worked with industry partners in mining, rail, healthcare, marine pilotage, aviation and the emergency services. Sally's program of research has received funding support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Bushfire CRC and the CRC for Rail Innovation.
SDG Goals
At CQUniversity we are committed to embedding sustainable practice in our operations, interactions and relationships, underpinned by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability is one of our strategic pillars within our Strategic Plan 2019-2023.
This project aligns with the following SDG Goals:
- 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing
- 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
