CHEMICALS on farm need to be treated with respect and handled in a safe manner.
A range of programs are in place nationally in an attempt to improve safety outcomes when transporting, storing, using and disposing of agricultural pesticides.
Phil Tucker wears a range of hats in this space, he is an AgSafe accredited auditor and trainer, a ChemCert trainer and northern NSW regional consultant for DrumMuster and ChemClear.
Mr Tucker said farmers need to be aware that all chemicals are hazardous.
“Farmers need to correctly transport, store and record the use of pesticides in order to comply with the legislation,” he said.
“They also need to be aware of issues of human and animal health as well as the environment.”
Mr Tucker said besides the legislative requirement, acting in best practice helped keep family and workers safe.
“On way is to have storage that is away from where people gather and even workshops if possible,” he said.
“They also need to be aware various products need to be bunded, particularly dangerous goods.
“Of course, some dangerous goods need to be locked away from access.”
Mr Tucker said examples included schedule 7 poisons and things like phostoxin tablets, which could be particularly dangerous if not handled correctly.
He said it was also important that farmers knew, under the Australian Pesticides Act, anyone using a pesticide in the workplace needed to be trained.
“We are all different and we all learn differently,” he said.
“Choosing the right approach, whether that be online, face to face or in the workplace is important.”
“If someone is involved in an audited best management program (BMP), such as cotton, they are exempt from having to do the renewal every five years which provides more flexibility.
Mr Tucker said many farmers were becoming professional in their storage of chemical.
“They are putting up special sheds, or converting a grain shed with mesh gates, bunding, ventilation and even pallet racking,” he said.
"It doesn’t matter if you are a large corporate organisation or a small family owned business.
“All pesticides need to be well stored and you need to have the material safety data sheets (MSDS) available.”
Mr Tucker said from his experience a lot of farmers had old chemical and drums around the farm.
“Often the labels have come off so you don’t know what is in them,” he said.
Mr Tucker said programs such as DrumMuster and ChemClear allowed farmers to dispose of drums and chemicals.
Program dates and locations for DrumMuster and ChemClear are available here: www.drummuster.org.au and www.chemclear.org.au.
- Does this article interest you? Scroll down to the comments section and start the conversation. You only need to sign up once and create a profile in the Disqus comment management system for permanent access to all discussions.