Many farmers would be unaware that OHS laws also extend to ensuring that the workplace is safer for their families and visiting children.
The legal expectation for employers to provide a safe workplace entails that they must eliminate the risks in their workplace so far as is reasonably practicable, and if not able to eliminate the risks, that they reduce the risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
In meeting these expectations employers are expected to have regard for the ‘hierarchy of control’ when determining control measures.
So how should you think about the hierarchy when it comes to the safety of your working children?
Whilst the hierarchy is typically considered in the context of physical hazards such as plant, manual handling and chemicals farmers should think about the hierarchy specifically in the context of their working children. The first question that should be asked is ‘can we eliminate the risks to our working children by eliminating the risk and not allowing them to perform that work’.