WFI Insurance says farm liability claims are down across most categories, including a 75% decline in falls from height over the past year.

Impact injuries are down 30% to their lowest level in four years, EGM Andrew Beer says in the latest Safer Farms Report from Farmsafe Australia.

Heavy machinery and large animals remain key risks, and farm property damage claims from severe weather are up 32%, the IAG subsidiary says. 

Self-managed repairs to broken machinery are a leading cause of injury, sometimes due to machinery not being properly disengaged. Fatigue and loss of concentration often contribute, as do omitting important safety steps to finish tasks quickly.    

“We have seen horrific life-changing injuries,” Mr Beer said. “We see first-hand the adverse outcomes when things go wrong on farms, where events can unfold quickly and often in remote locations.”

In the first six months of this year, there were 30 deaths and 74 injuries on farms. That compares with 32 deaths and 122 injuries in the whole of last year, which was an improvement on 2022’s 55 deaths and 158 injuries.

Most non-fatal injuries in January-June were in Queensland (49), followed by NSW (13).

In WFI’s WA workers’ compensation portfolio, incidents are down by about one-fifth, though beef cattle farming incidents are up 40%. Collisions on farms have steadily declined over the past few years to be down 23% from four years ago.

The top four areas for farming incidents are grain sheep and grain beef farming (52%), beef cattle farming (18%), road freight transport (17%) and electrical (13%).

WFI claims data for the past five years shows cuts have been the main injury type, comprising almost one-third of claims, followed by fractures (19%) and soft tissue injuries (17%). 

The rural, business and strata insurer recently became an ambassador for non-profit Farmsafe. WFI has more than 100 area managers operating a face-to-face service model in the agricultural communities it serves.

See the report here.