CRISIS talks have been held in a bid to prevent electrical deaths on Queensland farms after five fatalities were recorded in the last three years.
Farming industry representatives and safety practitioners held a forum to discuss how to better improve electrical awareness in the sector.
Queensland's Office of Industrial Relations executive director of electrical safety Victoria Thomson said five Queenslanders had died in electrical incidents just three years, with four of those deaths occurring on the Atherton Tablelands.
Ms Thomson said many more people had been injured and that the incidents were preventable.
"Data shows that nearly 50 per cent of hospital admissions from regional and remote areas are for electrical related incidents.
"Far too many people are hurt or killed by electricity on Queensland farms and the challenge is to discuss why these incidents are occurring and what can be done to prevent them."
Ms Thomson said the three major risks was machinery or equipment contacting overhead powerlines, electrical equipment not being maintained to appropriate standards and safety switches not being installed in the home or on farm.
She said rather than increasing regulations, industry was keen to work with farmers to make electrical safety part of their business plan.
"Parts of the industry are doing it really tough and more bureaucracy and form filling is not what industry needs," Ms Thomson said.
"We want to focus on practical solutions to minimise risk as you don't get a second chance at times so it is a matter of working with industry to better integrate electrical safety as a part of how they do business."
Ms Thomson said farmers were innovative and important work was being done now to improve safety around their properties and it was important to share their stories.
"For instance Ergon when putting in new installation poles and wires on the electricity network, they are putting them much higher, as they know plant and machinery on farms are getting bigger as they need to be more productive, so the infrastructure network needs to keep up with farming.
"The government has a lot of information about these incidents that people don't know so we need to do a better job of raising awareness.
"There is a whole host of information particularly aimed at the agriculture industry."
Ms Thomson said farmers could undertake simple measures to make their properties safety including moving irrigation pipes, machinery and other large items away from over head powerlines.
"A new app has been launched by Energy Qld this week which will assist farmers and property owners to identify the overhead network on their land," she said.
Ergon Energy could also provide maps of all electrical infrastructure and provide advice on line-marking and painting power poles to make them more visible. She also advised to regularly check electrical equipment before using it and to ensure safety switches were installed on all circuits.
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