Livestock transporters should report injuries, says peak body

A 2021 Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters' Association survey of 100 drivers found 87 per cent had experienced an injury in the five years prior to taken part in the study.

ALRTA chief executive Mat Munro those figures reflected a recent survey at one of New Zealand's largest trucking companies, which showed nearly 60 per cent of incidents involving livestock saw drivers having to take time off work.

Philip Wareing health and safety leader, Grahame Neate, Methven, New Zealand, said he reviewed injury statistics among livestock drivers, employed by the company.

He found 10 per cent of drivers had suffered hits from sheep, but that figure rose to 70pc from cattle.

Mr Neate said 57pc of the injuries caused by cattle resulted in drivers having to take time off work.

While they were not country-wide statistics, Mr Neate said he believed the trend would be similar across the New Zealand.

The company had put in place a cattle loading assessment tool, following a recent serious injury, he said.

"The numbers are similar from year to year," Mr Neate said.

"It highlights the importance of being able to handle cattle safely.

"Another key observation is the importance of having a second person present, during loading and unloading."

It also reinforced the need for training and compliance, he said.

Mr Munro said chronic under-reporting meant the ALTRA survey results wouldn't necessarily be reflected in the official WorkSafe figures.

"The first thing we try an encourage is reporting to the employer or WorkSafe all incidents or situations that might result in incidents," he said.

"It's something that certainly something that requires more attention".

ALRTA was trying to overcome concerns about reporting incidents and injuries.

"About 80 per cent of our members said they felt reporting anything could have an impact on repeat business," he said. "About 70 per cent didn't report injuries that required treatment.

"But obviously, owners of facilities can't take action, if they don't know there is a problem."

Mr Munro said ALRTA was pushing for consistent implementation of the national ramp standard.

"One of the key principals, in the design of the ramp standards and forcing yards, is the separation of animals and people," he said.

"We need to be past those days where drivers and animals are in the same area together."

Romsey transporter John Beer said while some abattoirs were "brilliant" others were not interested, even in little changes.

"There are lot of things, which wouldn't take a lot of effort to fix," he said.

"There should be at least two deck ramps, that would be good from the driver's perspective, and there should be a power frame on the side, where the driver is not hanging on the side of the crate, trying to get cattle to move.

"We are talking $50,000 to put these in, which is not a lot of money considering the amount of stock that gets unloaded".

He said appropriate penning densities also needed to be enforced.

"Until the Department of Agriculture or WorkSafe get fair dinkum about it, it will just keep going on."

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Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Victoria president Russell Borchard, Yelta, said it was hard to say if the New Zealand figures were similar to those locally.

But he said he knew of many drivers who had suffered lost-time injuries.

"It's an uphill battle," he said.

"I don't know what we can do to encourage people to report - it's really just industry stuff that we cop it on the chin when we get hurt.

"We do our best to keep working but the biggest problem is we have to get people on farms to upgrade their facilities."

He said there were no statistics covering on-farm injuries, caused when loading and unloading livestock.

"But we all know quite well the majority of accidents happen inside the farmers' yards, because of the outdated facilities that their grandfathers or fathers have built," he said.

"They [some farmers] just have that mindset that the yards work, so they don't have to do anything."

Mr Borchard said having two workers handling livestock was ideal.

"It's not always possible, but it's definitely preferable," he said.

"If the facilities are right, one person can handle cattle, as long as they can stay outside the yard the cattle are in, can work a draft and load."

"Two people are preferable, because if someone gets hurt there is someone there to get help or get the animals away."

Cattle were the biggest cause of injuries - "it costs the industry a lot of money, whether it's farm workers or livestock transporters," he said.

"The biggest thing we have to keep in mind is that these animals are big enough to kill you."

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