Melbourne, Australia
9 January, 2024

• Over 1,000 free Safety Champ packs were distributed in 2023, boostingfarm hazard awareness for children living on farms.
• Farm safety for children is a key issue; 18 per cent of the injury events onfarms involved children under the age of 15 in 2022.1
• Safety Champs supports parents and caregivers to facilitateconversations with children about farm safety in a fun and educationalway.

BASF Australia, in partnership with AgLink Australia members have delivered more than 1,000 free Safety Champs packs to Australian children living on farms.

The Safety Champs program reminds Australians that farms are not just busy workplaces, they are also family homes where children can encounter serious hazards. In fact, more than 99% of Australia’s agricultural businesses are family owned and operated2.

In 2022, 18 per cent of the injury events on farms involved children under the age of 15, underscoring the importance of spreading awareness to help identify potential hazards and prevent accidents amongst children. Safety Champs supports parents and caregivers to engage and educate the next generation in a fun and educational way by facilitating important discussions around the importance of embracing caution and safe behaviours on farms. The fun and educational farm safety themed activity packs were targeted at five- to ten-year-olds and came in a re-usable drawstring bag including:

A Safety Champs program introductory letter

• Child-sized safety vest
• Noise reducing earmuffs, which meet Australian safety standards
• Printable safety themed activities
• An ‘Our Farm Safety Pledge’ for families to complete together
• An official Safety Champs certificate

The packs were made available to growers and farmers in every agriculture sector, including community programs that educate regionally based children.

Glen Innes Research Natural Resources Advisory Committee (GLENRAC) in collaboration with project partners including NSW State Government and NAB Foundation, ran a Bush Kids First Aid program throughout 2023 and ordered 40 packs for the children attending the courses. Karen Bavea, Projects Manager from GLENRAC, said the packs provided an important access point to engage children on the topic of safety in regional and rural areas.

“It’s important that children living in remote areas know how to respond and act in emergency situations. It’s also important that they know how to identify and avoid potential hazards, so accidents don’t happen in the first place. It can be hard to find a fun and engaging way to communicate these important messages, and the BASF Safety Champs program has helped to enable this. The kids were very excited to receive the safety packs, and now they can be just like the adults they look up to with their own safety vests and earmuffs,” Bavea said.

Commenting on the success of this year’s initiative, Gavin Jackson, Head of Agricultural Solutions for BASF in Australia and New Zealand, said “Safety Champs is part of BASF’s dedication to strengthening rural communities and we want to make the program bigger and better in 2024.”

“It was fantastic to see the runaway success of this year’s Safety Champs program. Partnering with AgLink members has enabled the farm safety message to extend the program beyond cropping and reach livestock farming families. Ensuring the safety and livelihood of all in our farming communities is essential, especially for their youngest members. In 2024 and beyond we plan to grow the program and evolve it to cover different farm safety topics,” Jackson said.

Ian Scutt, CEO of AgLink Australia also remarked at the results of Safety Champs, stating, “We are delighted to partner with BASF to deliver a unique program that champions safety culture for our youngest community members in rural and regional Australia. It’s clear there is a real desire for improving farm safety and this program is one way farming families can work together to implement measures that can make their farm an even safer and more fun environment to grow up in.” To stay updated on the 2024 Safety Champs program, visit crop-solutions.basf.com.au.

1 FarmSafe Australia - Safer Farms 2023: Agricultural Injury and Fatality Trend Report

2 National Famers' Federation - Farm Business

Published: January 9, 2024