Agriculture Risk Report for a Green Valley Farm in Australia

Report
Introduction
In this assessment you will demonstrate your understanding of OHS risk management in a report.
The agricultural industry is the focus of several national and State based safety performance improvement initiatives. In this assessment you will work through the risk management architecture (i.e. Principles, Framework and Process) for a small farming organisation and a task routinely conducted on farms, which has resulted in workplace incidents in the farming community. The aim is that you conduct some research and provide some convincing risk based justifications to ensure an acceptable level of risk of this task (i.e. the incidents have occurred elsewhere). The assessment is therefore concerned with demonstrating your risk management and risk management communications skills for this industry sector.
The following information provides details:
1. The farming organisation is classified as an SME.( Small and medium-sized enterprises)
2. The farming organisation does not have an existing documented risk based approach.
3. The task is using a tractor and equipment to tow a bogged vehicle (eg: WorkSafe Commissioner Media Release (https://www(dot)commerce(dot)wa(dot)gov(dot)au/announcements/worksafe-commissioner-launches-inquiry-agriculture) , WorkSafe WA Tractor Safety (https://www(dot)commerce(dot)wa(dot)gov(dot)au/sites/default/files/atoms/files/safe_use_of_tractors_with_attachmen.pdf) ).
4. You may fabricate any other information you need to assist the assessment.
5. Whilst the tractor drivers understand the task of using a tractor, they need advice following the incident to ensure their approach manages risk to an acceptable level.
Instructions
Follow these steps:
Step 1:
Preparation: Review the literature and guidance information which you source, to identify the risk management issues associated with this industry sector, and the task.
Ask yourself what is the national performance of small farming organisations, and/or the use of tractors and what needs to happen to improve this?
Ask yourself what does a small/medium business need to do to integrate risk management into their operations? What are the issues they may have?
What are the hazards associated with using a tractor for this task?
Step 2:
Literature review: Review up to 10 contemporary peer reviewed papers or other authoritative literature concerned with safety performance of farming SME's, and/or working with tractors.
What does the OHS regulator expect of SME's?
What advice is given to SME's regarding risk management? What risk management strategies are suggested for tractors?
Step 3: Report:
Develop a report with the following sections (Note: refer to the marking rubric too):
Executive summary: a summary of the main points of each section of the report, highlighting issues of particular interest to the Executive/Management
Introduction: Describe the background to the report, why the report is needed, and, what the report aims to do Background (ie. Literature review): Summarise the literature, for example highlighting OHS issues in the SME sector, issues of working with tractors, contemporary risk management approaches for SMEs, and modern approaches to working with tractors.
Risk Based approach:
Describe the elements of AS/NZ ISO31000 (i.e. the ‘Principles’, ‘Framework’ and ‘Process’) in a manner suitable for this organisation.
For the Principles and Framework describe what and how the company needs to do in each (i.e. summarise what and describe how...practical!).
For the Risk Management Process: Present a risk management plan for working with this task (i.e. all the elements of the risk management process). Make recommendations for the risk treatments, using the Control Hierarchy, based on your research. Include suggestions for incident and emergency management associated with this task.
Discussion of Benefits: Describe a justification for the risk based approach, and justify the impact this approach will have on the company.
Conclusion: Finalise the report by showing how the report responds to the "needs" and "aims" described in the introduction.
References: all other authors work must be properly referenced using APA 7th edition.
Appendices: you may add other information in appendices, which will not be included in the word count.
You may make up appropriate information about the company (i.e its name, location, history etc) if it helps your report. If you make up information, you need to be consistent and apply it appropriately through out the report (eg: if you say someone had died because of a workplace incident, this will impact many other aspects of the advice you provide).
Please ask questions in the tutorial and use the Discussion Board to exchange ideas and comments with your class colleagues.
You may use a risk assessment template or other risk assessment information of your choosing to illustrate your report.
This assessment is concerned with communicating your understanding of the benefits of risk management to an organisation and the management of a workplace hazard. Your marks will reflect how well you have done these tasks. As such, you should only refer to sources which are peer reviewed, authoritative or similar (i.e. journal articles, government publications). It is not appropriate to refer to sources such as your/other workplace procedures, organisation websites or social media.
Resources
SafeWork Australia - Small business (https://www(dot)safeworkaustralia(dot)gov(dot)au/safety-topic/industry-and-business/small- business)
Rubrics
Abstract: Your abstract/executive summary is a good summary of the contents of your report; it covers the main points and importantfindings
Introduction:
Your introduction is good. The purpose and background are clear.
Litreature review:
Your critique is good and includes a thorough evaluation of relevant peerreviewed articles. Search methodology, inclusion and exclusion criteria are clearly explained.
Risk based approach:
A good description of the design and proposed implementation of a risk based approach to manage this risk, based on the literature review and linked to the national performance targets.
Discuss the benefits of the risk based appraoch:
A discussion of the benefits of the risk management process towards the national performance targets.
Conclusion:
Your conclusion is satisfactory and summarizes the purpose and findings and with limited reference to significance. No new information, sources or ideas are introduced
Referecing and style: APA 7th edition
Reasonable skill in correct referencing style; paraphrases direct quotations used sparingly