Spreading the safety message to the farm

The City of Ballarat is bringing together multiple emergency services agencies to promote farm safety.

A Farm Safety Information Session next month will compile representatives from the City of Ballarat’s emergency management team, Victoria Police, the Country Fire Authority, and the State Emergency Service.

Designed for farmers during a traditionally quieter time of the season on the land, the session will focus primarily on fire safety, farm safety and security, flood and storm safety, and compliance.

The new initiative stemmed from planning a community information session about permits to burn, but quickly developed into a multi-agency session to cover all aspects of farm safety.

It is hoped that it will be the first of future collaborative sessions with other emergency service agencies in Ballarat.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the session would highlight how agencies could help landowners protect their own property as much as possible.

“We are seeing increasingly challenging conditions and extreme weather events for rural property owners, so it is vital we help them prepare as much as possible,” he said.

“We know that during emergencies there is an incredible amount of collaboration between emergency service agencies, but working together outside of emergency scenarios can be just as important.

“This is all about building a more resilient community, so I encourage landowners to come along and learn about how to best protect themselves and their neighbours.”

The session will be held at the Ascot Mutual Improvement Association Hall at 47 Ascot Hall Road, Ascot.

It will be held on Wednesday 11 September from 8am-10am and will include a free breakfast.

RSVPs via email to mfpo@ballarat.vic.gov.au by Monday 2 September are essential.