Keeping a spring in your step | Ep. 77

Injuries are commonplace on farm, ACC shares that 40% of farm injuries are from a sprain or strain and most of these occur between August to October, aligning with spring calving for a lot of farmers. In this episode we talk to DairyNZ Senior Scientist Dr Callum Eastwood and QCONZ CEO Chris Leach about a joint project between ACC and DairyNZ. Callum and Chris share the learnings from the project on reducing sprains and strains on farm, and what innovations have been developed to make jobs easier and safer over the calving season.
 
Notes:
Reducing Sprains and Strains is a three-year project, co-funded through the ACC Workplace Injury Prevention Grants Programme, with the aim to raise awareness of common injury risks and develop easy-to-implement solutions to reduce these injuries. The project will end mid-2024. Come and see the best ideas at Fieldays on the DairyNZ site and find out more on our website.

Have feedback or ideas for future episodes? Email us at talkingdairy@dairynz.co.nz

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Chapters

• 1:02 Overview of Callum and Chris's career's and involvement with the Strains and Sprains project
• 2:55 Rationale for why sprains and strains are common on farm
• 4:36 Overview of how the project came about
• 6:05 Role of QCONZ as a delivery partner within the project
• 7:01 What findings came as an output of working with 50 farms to understand risks on farm for injuries
• 8:59 What reflections were shared by farmers post calving
• 10:05 Co-design process and solutions that arose
• 12:19 Which risks were identified to try and fix, and create solutions for?
• 15:02 Easy access calf gate solution discussed
• 17:40 Colostrum bucket trolley prototype overview
• 19:34 Prototype testing and feedback cycle
• 21:40 Prototype availability
• 22:30 Key takeaways from the project
• 24:55 Farm safety tips and learnings
• 26:15 Episode summary