Seasonal and casual workers, as well as extended family members can often join the ranks of farm staff to help with the increased workload during peak times such as harvest and seeding. It’s important they know your site policies and procedures. A simple way to streamline this process is to create seasonal safety induction kits to train short-term workers during these peak times.
Seasonal work is often only available at specific times of the year. You will often find seasonal workers rely on transient conditions such as fruit picking in the summer or harvest, often peak periods to meet demand. Often these roles involve transferable and valuable skill sets, but you shouldn’t just assume these seasonal workers know everything.
Agricultural and horticultural work may require mechanical picking, preparing soil, planting, weeding or pruning. This involves numerous hazards such as chemicals, machinery and other equipment.
To tailor the safety induction kits to suit your seasonal workers, consider the season and tasks they will be undertaking. For example, it is essential they know an emergency response and first aid kit locations, but not as important to be inducted for chemical use or machinery they may not use.
What else do you need to consider?