Gear Up – TAP Blog

As part of the TAP and continuing the focus on farm safety introduced during the Year 5/6 TAP into Farm Safety unit, our Year 9/10 AgHort students were fortunate to be part of the National Centre for Farmer Health’s Gear Up program at Timboon P-12. As a significant portion of on-farm deaths and injuries in Australia occur among young people working on the farm, we wanted to provide our Year 9/10 AgHort students with an opportunity to learn about farm safety in a practical, fun manner. Facilitators, Sally Cunningham, Tam Phillips and Cecilia Fitzgerald, introduced the program that builds students’ knowledge of farm hazards and understanding of the importance of safe practices to positively influence farm safety behaviours. Through a range of creative, interactive activities students explored agricultural exposures and hazards, working with machinery and livestock, prevention strategies, respiratory health, eye and ear safety, zoonotic diseases, agrichemicals, heat-related stress, PPE and wellbeing. We are grateful to Tim Nowel and Nutrien Timboon who supported the delivery of this potentially life-saving project for these young adults.