Health and Safety Awareness for Flower Farm Workers by Gerald Gwamba

A farm like any other workplace is a hazard work setting. In recognising that, thousands of farm
workers are injured, equipment and plant are damaged on farms, it is imperative to ensure that
adequate safety measures are practicalised. This has the potential to reduce and/or safe guard farms
from potential incidents, avoid legal implications and create sustainable and lasting business. The
purpose of this course is create safety awareness for farm workers/contractors for improved
operations performance. This course could also provide valuable inputs into a companys current
and/or future plans for establishment/improvement of Health and Safety Management Systems on
farms.

Key Topics

1. Introduction to health and safety, roles and responsibilities This course begins by
introducing the all aspect of health and safety on flower farms. We further itemise the roles
and responsibilities of the different stakeholders w.r.t the OSHA 2006 of Uganda and other.
2. Health and safety Risk assessment on a farm We look at what a risk assessment and
discuss how to analyse health and safety hazards through identification, riskification,
controls and action planning.
3. Recognising and managing health and safety hazards on farms In this session, we discuss
the approaches of recognising health and safety hazards. The routine farm operations have
the potential to cause severe injuries to personnel, damage to plant and equipment and
environmental issues if not adequately controlled. Among which include;
Pesticides and other chemicals
Ergonomics
Hazardous plant, equipment and machinery
Unsanitary conditions
Working at heights
Asphyxiation
4. Risk factors on farms We discuss some factors that could increase the risk of injuries,
damage to plant and equipment for farm workers
Human aspects
Plant, equipment and machinery
Protective equipment
Environmental conditions
5. Methods of improving personal safety on farms - we discuss through itemisation, based on
industry best practices measures of improving the overall health and safety on farms.
Instruction and MSDS
Emergency preparedness
Inspections and Audits
Reporting
6. Interactive session This is an interactive question answer session that allows delegates to
discussion whilst braining storming on the best adaptable practices to create a workplace
health and safety culture