A Pilot Study: Improving Indigenous Worker Safety in Agriculture

[Class, Roll number]

A Pilot Study: Improving Indigenous Worker Safety in Agriculture

Authors' introduction

The Australian Centre for agricultural health & safety conducted research on improving safety culture for native Australian farmers. The study centre is a part of medical school in University of Sydney. The significance of the centre lies in the joint venture with the faculty of agriculture. The study was published in “Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, Vol. 34, p. 14-17” on September 6th, 2010. The research team consists of Antonia Hawkins, John Temperley, Candice Dahlstrom and Lyn Fragar. Antonia Hawkins, John Temperley and Lyn Fragar are from School of public health, University of Sydney, and Candice Dahlstrom is the coordinator at Hunter New England health. Antonia Hawkins is the project leader of “Farm injury prevention project”. John Temperley is the executive officer at Farmsafe Australia. Lyn Fragar is the director of Australian Centre for agricultural health & safety.

Summary

Subject area

The subject area of the paper is a combination of public health and occupational safety, with relevance to a particular race. The paper explores the safety hazards associated with agricultural practice at two sites in Australia (Kimberley & Moree). The results from the study will be used to establish occupational safety data for native Australian farmers.

Scope of research

Occupational safety data in the agricultural domain is unavailable in Australia. The research is a pilot study and uses data from two small-scale sites to assess and apply data to a general population. The aborigines of Australia are the native people of the land. The native Australians opposed urbanization and remained rooted to their lands. The language barrier also played a role in restricting their progress. The natives considered the non-indigenous people as invaders, who want to occupy their lands. The behavior proves to be an obstacle in conducting research studies for the welfare of the aboriginal Australians.

Central idea

Aboriginal islanders provide a great share to Australian farm industries. Very little information is available about their working environment. The indigenous workers are relatively less educated than the non-indigenous people working in the same domain. The lack of information exposes the native people to work-related perils. The government safety departments should train the local people to overcome occupational risks.

Major Findings

The aboriginal Australians formulate around 3% of the Australian population (Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, 2006). They are usually involved in low profile and low income occupations. Most of the indigenous Australians work for agriculture and fisheries industries. Both male and female members of the native community participate in earning bread for the family.

The indigenous workforce of Australia is less privileged than the non-indigenous population. The natives have little or no education and belong to low income group. Most of People are involved in agricultural, horticultural and cattle-farm activities. The research paper deduced that the safety programs should include local community in the leadership role. The safety plans cannot succeed without mutual support from the community and government sectors.

The investigators suggested choosing representatives from the local ...