Farm Induction Checklist: Complete Guide (with Free PDF Template)

Farm inductions are a critical process for employees, contractors and visitors alike. They ensure important information is imparted before work begins.

 

In our complete guide, we'll break down the farm induction process into its most critical steps and the key subjects you'll need to cover. You can also download our farm induction checklist template to simplify the process for your business even more.

 

What is a farm induction?

A farm induction is a process by which new employees, visitors and contractors are introduced to essential information needed to be on a farm.

 

While inductions take place in just about every workplace, they're especially important on farms. Farms can present many health and safety risks for employees, visitors and contractors alike.

 

A farm induction is the perfect opportunity to let all of these parties know about work health and safety policies, risks and rules on your farm. You'll also cover all other kinds of key information needed for inductees, from incident reporting to the location of certain facilities.

 

A farm induction checklist is a document that covers all the key information required for a farm induction. It can be used internally to ensure that you don’t miss out on anything during the process, or shared with inductees to guide them through it.

What are the benefits of a farm induction checklist?

Some of the top reasons to implement a farm induction checklist on your farm are:

• Regulatory compliance: In Australia and New Zealand, employers have legal obligations to keep their employees and contractors safe. This can involve providing necessary information and creating an environment where health and safety is prioritised.

• Easy to use: Getting employees, visitors and contractors up to speed on health, safety and other requirements can seem daunting. A farm induction checklist is a handy cheat sheet for managers and new employees to refer to.

• Comprehensiveness: Without a checklist, you risk missing out on important details in your inductions. Using a checklist ensures that employees, visitors and contractors can receive the information they need to be on your farm.

• Training: With a single farm induction checklist in your business, you can be sure that employees and contractors are all receiving the same training.

What should be included in a farm induction checklist?

Farm induction checklists might look very different from one farm to another. We've assembled this rundown of some of the most important areas to include in your farm induction checklist.

Terms and conditions of employment

Within your farm induction, specify the terms and conditions of employment for permanent employees. While contractors aren't permanent employees, you'll also need to include a section in your induction that outlines terms and conditions that relate to their contracts.

 

Areas to include in this section include:

• Position description: Outline what is required of your employee or contractor in their new job or role.

• Probationary period: Explain the duration and purpose of any probationary periods in your business, and the process for advancing beyond a probationary period.

• Hours of work: Detail working hours, including start and finish times, breaks, and any overtime expectations.

• Leave: Describe how leave operates in your business. This includes annual leave, sick leave or any special additional leave you offer.

• Pay details: Provide information on pay rates, payment methods, and the frequency of payments.

• Accommodation: Explain how accommodation functions if applicable. What accommodation is offered? Are there any costs associated with accommodation that team members are expected to cover?

Company policies

Remember to let employees, contractors and visitors know about company policies that are in place in your business. Be clear about what each policy consists of and why they are in place.

• Farm health and safety policy: Let incoming employees, visitors and contractors know about this important policy. While the rest of your induction should provide more detail about health and safety, this policy is the perfect place to start.

• Biosecurity plan: Allow employees, visitors and contractors to access relevant parts of your farm biosecurity plan.

• Drug and alcohol policy: Provide your drug and alcohol policy, including references to relevant legislation and discipline if the policy is not adhered to.

• Return to work policy: This policy should detail the steps and support available for employees returning to work after illness or injury.

• Disciplinary and grievance procedures: Provide information on how disciplinary issues and grievances are handled in your business.

• Visitor policy: Provide information on requirements for visitors to your property, including reporting and biosecurity measures.

• Check-in: If your business uses check-in software like Onside, you should have a policy detailing how it is used.

Reporting

Reporting is an important process for dealing with health and safety and other incidents on your farm. Inductees should learn about reporting quickly so they’re ready to use the process whenever they need to.

• Reporting procedures: Explain the steps employees should follow to report any incidents, including injuries, near-misses, and safety hazards. Emphasise the importance of reporting incidents immediately. This helps to quickly address any hazards and mitigate the risks of further incidents.

• Forms and documentation: Inform inductees about forms and documentation for reporting. Stress the importance of maintaining accurate records of all incidents, including details such as date, time, location, and a description of what happened.

• Supporting evidence: Let your team know about processes for gathering and recording supporting evidence, such as photographs.

• Follow-up: Let inductees know about your follow-up processes for incident reporting. Explain where investigations would be necessary, and how you would execute corrective actions.

Emergencies

A health and safety induction must include a focus on how your business responds to emergencies. From a new employee to a short-term visitor, all inductees must have some knowledge of how to respond to an emergency.

• Contacts: Provide a comprehensive list of emergency contacts, including local emergency services, farm management, and designated first aid personnel.

• Landmarks: Point out emergency landmarks such as the location of emergency kits, emergency exits and assembly points.

• Equipment: Give an introduction to emergency equipment such as fire safety equipment and first aid kits.

• Procedures: When conducting a farm induction, provide an introduction to your farm's approach to emergencies. Give an overview of evacuations and how you would respond to a specific dangerous incident on your farm.

Property tour and farm hazards

A critical part of the induction process is a property tour. Large rural properties can be confusing for new employees or visitors, so it's important to help them get their bearings.

 

A property tour also has significant health and safety implications. Here are some areas to keep in mind on your induction property tours:

• Identification of hazards: Point out various hazards on your farm, such as machinery, areas where chemicals are used or livestock areas.

• Toilets and facilities: Be sure to point out the location of toilets on your property and other critical facilities.

• Farm mapping software: Farm mapping software is a vital tool for helping your team understand your property. Your property tour is the perfect opportunity to introduce it to new team members and contractors.

Hygiene

Often overlooked as a part of farm health and safety, hygiene is critical. Set out the importance of hygiene for new hires and contractors with this checklist:

• Handwashing: Explain the critical importance of handwashing when conducting certain tasks around the farm. Explain when it should be done, such as after handling chemicals, animals or waste.

• Property hygiene: Emphasise the significance of keeping work areas clean and processes for doing so. Explain why this is important for areas like biosecurity – for example, maintaining clean facilities to prevent pest infestations.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

PPE is an essential part of maintaining health and safety on your farm. To ensure PPE is correctly used by employees, visitors and contractors from day one, follow this checklist:

• Required attire: Before describing the PPE your employee, contractor or visitor requires, explain the clothing they should come to work in or need to provide themselves. This might include long pants and boots.

• PPE issuance: Explain the PPE that your employee or contractor will need to wear when fulfilling their tasks. It may be necessary to demonstrate the correct usage of certain PPE items.

• PPE maintenance: Explain how PPE should be cared for and maintained to prevent wear and tear.

• Replacement procedures: Explain how damaged or lost PPE should be reported. Then, explain how to obtain replacement PPE.

Fatigue

In recent years, there has been increased emphasis on farm fatigue. Ensuring team members are well rested is critical for preventing accidents on farms.

 

Here are some ways to get inductees thinking about farm fatigue:

• Break policies: Let inductees know about break policies on your farm. Regular breaks should be scheduled throughout the day to help manage fatigue on farms.

• Signs of fatigue: Advise inductees of signs of fatigue to look out for. These signs can include headaches, poor concentration, feeling irritable and micro-sleeping.

• Managing workload: Ensure that your team members understand how to have a manageable workload on your farm. Let them know about task management processes on your farms which enable them to receive support.

Machinery operation

Machinery operation is a leading cause of injury and accidents on farms across Australia and New Zealand. Employees, contractors and visitors should learn about safe machinery operation from induction.

• Introduction to training: You won't be able to cover full machinery training in most induction processes. However, you can provide an introduction on the safe usage of the most important pieces of machinery on your farm.

• Safety check: Teach inductees about safety check procedures for machinery on your farm. Let them know when checks should be conducted, such as immediately before use. Give an overview of what goes into a safety check for different pieces of machinery.

• Operating procedures: Provide detailed instructions on the standard operating procedures for different types of machinery. This should cover starting and stopping the machine, safe operating speeds, and load limits.

• Emergency procedures: Ensure employees know the emergency procedures for machinery operation. This includes how to shut down the machine quickly and safely in an emergency, and how to let others know about an emergency.

Animals

Animals are crucial for some agribusinesses. While in-depth training will be required before employees and contractors can work with animals, you should include some instruction in the induction process.

• Safety measures: Introduce inductees to safety measures for dealing with farm animals, including protective equipment and safe handling techniques.

• Recognising distress: Train inductees to recognize signs of distress or illness in animals. These include changes in behaviour, loss of appetite or physical symptoms like limping or discharge. This is important for the health and safety of inductees and for maintaining livestock.

• Handling practices: Emphasise the significance of correct handling to reduce stress and prevent injuries. You should also teach the correct use of handling equipment such as halters.

• Operating procedures: Instruct inductees about clear protocols for routine animal care tasks, such as feeding, watering, and cleaning.

Five ways to simplify farm induction

This checklist is the perfect starting point for your induction process. Here are five additional steps you can take for smooth inductions:

• Visual aids: Maps, diagrams and farm signs all help inductees get up to speed more quickly. Integrate them into your inductions wherever possible.

• Buddy system: Pair up inductees with an experienced member of staff who can help take them through induction processes. This allows for personalised inductions showcasing practical knowledge while saving time for the most senior members of your business.

• Regular feedback: Accommodate regular check-ins with inductees throughout the induction process. This will help clarify anything they've missed throughout the process. Plus, you'll get the opportunity to improve your induction process.

• Farm management apps: Farm management apps like Onside can help inductions with everything from easy-to-use risk maps to storing emergency information.

• Provide accessible resources: Inductions are the perfect time to share documents like your farm health and safety policy and farm biosecurity plan. Make them easy for staff members to access throughout the induction process. A farm management app can also help out here, with digital access to risk registers and other health and safety documents.

Find out how Onside can help your agribusiness from inductions and beyond. Get started with Onside today and find out how we can elevate your operations.