Fatal incident during cane harvesting operations

Possible control measures to prevent similar incidents

WHS Regulation and Rural plant Code of Practice 2024

The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (WHS Regulation) includes specific duties for persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) that involve the management or control of plant, including rural plant. Effective control measures for rural plant associated with cane harvesting are often made up of a combination of controls.

The Rural plant Code of Practice 2024 (PDF, 1.73 MB) (the Code) commenced on 23 September 2024 and replaces an earlier version from 2004. It provides guidance on working safely with rural plant including trucks used to transport produce to help reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities. The Code provides guidance to the agriculture sector to meet its work health and safety obligations.

Control measures

There is often more than one business or undertaking at a workplace and each may have responsibility for the same health and safety matters, either because they are involved in the same activities or share the same workplace. In these situations, each duty holder should exchange information to find out who is doing what and work together in a cooperative and coordinated way, so that risks are eliminated or minimised as far as is reasonably practicable.

Before operating rural plant such as farm machinery and haulout vehicles, the person with management or control must ensure:

• the machine or vehicle selected is right for the task, safe to operate and fitted with suitable safety features (such as seat belts, horn, reversing beeper, rotary flashing light). Any vehicle used on the road must comply with the relevant Department of Transport and Main Road’s (TMR) road safety legislation,
• the manufacturer's operating instructions have been read and are followed,
• any environmental risk factors – ground conditions, terrain, weather (including seasonal changes) have been considered and assessed,
• that maintenance and inspection of the plant or vehicle is carried out by a competent person in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations,
• operators and drivers have been verified as competent to operate the plant or vehicle with consideration given to the environmental factors (untrained or inexperienced workers should not operate the plant or vehicle, particularly in unfamiliar or high-risk terrain or for unfamiliar tasks),
• drivers and operators use seatbelts and adopt safe driving methods including adherence to any farm or area specific speed limits, never operating the vehicle beyond its rated capacity (Gross Vehicle Mass - GVM) and taking regular breaks in line with relevant heavy vehicle legislation requirements,
• workers who drive road registered vehicles hold the appropriate type of licence to drive that vehicle, irrespective of whether the vehicle is operated on a public road or farm,
• information, training, instruction or supervision necessary to control the risks associated with the machine or vehicle is available,
• training programs are practical and hands on and consider the particular needs of workers such as literacy levels, language barriers, work experience and specific skills required for safe use of the vehicle, thereby ensuring worker training, experience and competency aligns with the requirements and complexity of the task, and
• a suitable means of communication (for example, two-way radio) is used.

PCBUs must first consider controls that most effectively eliminate the risk or, where not reasonably practicable, minimise the risk.

The risk of large rural plant (cane harvesters and haulout vehicles) colliding by operating in close proximity to each other and people on the ground may also be minimised by implementing administrative controls including systems of work.

Fatigue management is a shared responsibility between management and workers, as it involves factors both inside and outside the workplace.

Preventing and managing fatigue-related risk in the workplace provides guidance on how to identify, manage and control fatigue, to make sure health and safety risks are avoided at work.

Fitness-for-work assessments are a useful tool to help ensure that all workers are in a state of health compatible with their job requirements. Fitness-for-work assessments may be appropriate in the following circumstances:

• Pre-placement: to determine if the prospective worker is physically capable to do a specific task safely, or work in a particular work environment.
• Prior to a worker taking on a new position/responsibility: to determine if the worker is physically capable to do a specific task safely, in relation to a change in work location, work hours, physical demands or exposure.
• Assessment related to a specific task or work environment: to determine if a specific change to the worker or work environment affects the ability of the worker to safely perform a specific task or work in a specific environment.

Details of any fitness-for-work assessment should be treated as confidential.

Traffic management

PCBUs have a requirement to manage the risk of powered mobile plant colliding with persons or other plant. Many machines such as harvesters, and module trucks used to transport produce like cane, cotton and bail during harvesting or during in-field operations are potentially hazardous. For example, when large machines are operated close to each other and to people on the ground.

A traffic management plan documents and helps explain how risks will be managed at the workplace. Consultation with workers may involve providing information about the plan as well as the procedure that will be implemented for monitoring and reviewing it over the course of the farm harvesting operations. Everyone affected by the plan must understand it and follow it. Farm specific in-field traffic management measures should include but are not limited to the following:

Farm map

An accurate farm map should be provided to workers and contractors, or anyone who operates machinery on the farm. For example, using different bright colours to identify different hazards. Include photos to clarify the details on the farm map.

The farm map should identify the following hazards:

• rail lines (state rail or local sugar mill) and crossings,
• delivery points,
• roadways (sealed and unsealed),
• waterways and drainage channels,
• powerlines, poles and stay wires and underground cabling,
• boundary fences or markers, and
• irrigation pumps, pipelines, outlets.

Specific operational procedures may need to be followed. For example, negotiating angled headlands where there is less visibility and greater difficulty in manoeuvring. Consultation should be undertaken between workers to ensure that equipment can be manoeuvred safely in such situations.

The traffic management plan should also ensure:

• It is clear to all farm machinery operators, haulout drivers and others as to who has right of way across the farm.
• Speed limits are clearly signed and followed. The speed limit applies to all farm machinery and vehicles, without exception.
• Any traffic directions used, such as 'stop' and 'one way', are clearly signed and followed.
• Any exclusion zones for farm machinery or pedestrians are clearly marked.

Pre-operational site briefing

The harvesting and haulout crews should familiarise themselves with routes and any associated hazards and control measures prior to the farm harvesting operations commencing. One method of providing this information to workers is by means of a farm map.

Fatigue management should be addressed, and the daily briefing should also include what to do in the case of a spillage, breakdown or accident.

Daily pre-start meeting

Effective communication methods should be established between the harvester driver and haulout crew who are operating and manoeuvring their machinery and vehicles in close proximity. Communication between harvesting crews should be done by means of a UHF/VHF radio or similar method.

Allocating specific time to conduct daily pre-start meetings or briefings while ensuring workers have sufficient time to perform any necessary safety checks prior to commencing work (such as pre-start checks of equipment).

Routes

Harvesting and haulout crews are to be provided with routes for the harvesting operation to be carried out on the farm.

• The route to be taken from the harvesting operation to the delivery siding must be identified. Use different routes, where practicable, for entering and exiting the siding.
• Haulout operators hauling out full bins should take a different route to the operator hauling empty bins to and from the siding.

• Use of water to suppress dust on routes to prevent it from becoming airborne (e.g. using water tankers, static sprinklers and other watering methods).

Sidings and delivery points

A delivery point is a shared workplace. All persons involved with activities at a siding have duties to ensure that the way they undertake their activities does not pose a risk to themselves, workers or others. The Cane rail safety supplement to the Sugar industry Code of Practice (PDF, 0.98 MB) provides guidance about siding and delivery points for cane harvesting.

Employers must have first aid arrangements and plans in place to deal with emergencies in the workplace. All workers should be familiar with the emergency procedures for their place of work.

Any remaining risk must be minimised with suitable personal protective equipment.

For example:

• hard hats,
• steel cap boots, and
• high visibility vests.

Administrative control measures and PPE rely on human behaviour and supervision. If used on their own, they are least effective in minimising risks.

The control measures you put in place should be reviewed regularly to make sure they work as planned. WHSQ’s onsite traffic management self-assessment tool (PDF, 0.36 MB) may assist with the development of a traffic management plan. SafeWork Australia also provides a general guide to workplace traffic management