Abstract:
This brief provides summary data for the Cotton Research and Development Corporation to report on progress in relation to sentinel work health and safety indicators.
While the industry appears to be making progress there are several limitations to this study and the data within, that need to be considered. Firstly, accurate denominator data to ascertain rates of injury and death are not available and have not been presented in this report. This is particularly important as the impact of the extended drought and reduction in water allocations on the cotton cropping area planted is likely significant. This has implications in terms of both the volume of work undertaken and indeed the number of people working within the commodity sector. Without question, this reduces the overall exposure of workers to potential risks and may be partly reflected in the lower number of weeks lost in the last two years of this study period.
