Horticulture industry

Workers

The worker demographic for the horticulture industry is vast and includes permanent workers (often family members), local labour, itinerant professionals, working holidaymakers, temporary and new workers (students, backpackers) of all ages, with varying levels of skill and experience.

Hazards

Much of the work in the industry is of a physical nature, lifting, moving objects and animals. Hazards are many and varied. There are several specific areas of work that pose the following hazards:

On the block

• tractors and attachments
• chemicals
• ladders
• working at heights
• vehicles
• environment (can cause heat stress, skin cancer) and manual handling.

In the packing shed

• forklifts
• plant
• electrical
• noise
• manual handling
• traffic flow
• pedestrians.

In the workshop

• electrical
• hand tools and equipment
• noise
• manual handling.

In general: isolated work, visitors, children and new workers are present.