The Victorian Farm Safety Centre is producing a FREE Tractor DVD with the support of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and Department of Primary Industries. A draft will be ready in December for interested parties to review. It is intended that the DVD will be distributed to farmers to encourage safer work procedures that would help to reduce the rate of fatalities. The content correlates with the information in the WorkSafe Vic Handbook - 'Safe Use of Tractors with Attachments' which was also developed by the VFSC with the help of Industry volunteers.

The VFSC is hoping to secure further support for the following:

Media -

• • Television broadcasters approached for publicity regarding the project.
  
  
• • Newspapers approached seeking a commitment towards the distribution of the Free DVDs to farmers.
  
  
• • Articles promoting the project.
  
  
• • The distribution of disks paid for by other parties.
  
  
• • The distribution of disks and provision of funds the VFSC to cover the cost of burning the disks. ($2000 for 1000 disks or $8800 for 5000) All nominated amounts combined intone order.
  
  
• • All of the above.

Community Groups -

• Community groups provide funding to VFSC towards the burning of a specific number of disks that would be distributed by:
  
  
  • 10% of disks returned to Community group
  • 10% to VFSC for distribution at Field Days
  • 80% to newspapers for distribution, available to be picked up from newsagents.

Dealers, Manufacturers, Insurance Companies -

• Permission is provided for the DVD to be included in the manual of all tractors sold, to help the vendors to meet their obligation of informing the buyer of information necessary to maintain safe operation of the tractor. ($5000 secures the permission and 1000 DVDs.)

Businesses -

• Businesses will have the opportunity to review the draft DVD and to become a sponsor for $5000 with their logo added to the cover and in the credits of the DVD.

Once we have all interested parties indicating how many disks they want, the order would be submitted to have the DVDs burnt with a two week turn around.

Over the last few years there have been constant queries from training institutions regarding the availability of tractor training material. The answer was that there was only very dated resources available that were excellent in their day. The VFSC started seeking financial support and after a year there were enough funds to commence. The Mathematics and IT section of the University of Ballarat offered to produce 3D tractor images that could be tipped, flipped and damaged by falling objects, demonstrating to people the potential hazards without needing to know English or how tread. Farmers would use the DVD to induct new staff, family members and contractors; which would subsequently lead to safer work practices and a reduction in the number of accidents on farms and other work sites that use tractors.

The content of the DVD includes pre-operational checks, basic skills, controls and basic maintenance. The content will be concise and comprehensive to hold the attention of viewers who may otherwise be in a hurry to get back to doing other tasks. A second version would be sold to tractor training bodies, with the second DVD including a powerpoint presentation, checklists and PDF documents.

If you are interested, the first step is to send your contact details to the VFSC, indicating that you wish to review the draft DVD to check that it is a quality product that the farming industry can be proud of with a positive message while being compact and comprehensive.

There might be a simultaneous launch of the handbook and the DVD at the same time at an appropriate event. If you are willing to support the project, please confirm your support through an Email t-b.westblade@ballarat.edu.au indicating whether you want to be a :

Brett Westblade
Manager - Victorian Farm Safety Centre
Primary Industries, University of Ballarat
P.Box 668, Ballarat, Vic 3353
5335 3717, 0419 874 636, 5339 3177
b.westblade@ballarat.edu.au

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