Across the agricultural value chain, safety is a key concern. It is important that everyone has access to a safe work environment and the skills to keep themselves and others safe. These skills are critical in environments where machinery is used, animals are involved, or work takes place in isolated or remote locations.
The Agriculture Workforce Working Group (AWWG) held its first meeting in March 2023, convened by then Commonwealth Agricultural Minister Senator the Hon Murray Watt. During this meeting it was proposed that investigations take place into a worker safety induction program to be piloted in the meat processing industry.
As a result, this project is taking place to explore potential models and develop a safety induction program to be piloted in the meat processing industry. The program would be designed to provide foundational capabilities in safety for workers entering the industry, supporting national consistency in safety skills across the industry.
If you would like to be involved in this project, please get in touch with Mick Crouch [email protected] or subscribe to our newsletter above.
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Timeline and approach
Stage 1
30 November 2023 to 30 June 2024
This stage will involve collation of existing resources and initial research and consultation. This includes looking at examples of how other industries manage safety induction and how simulated learning can support safety skills. It also involves establishing a steering committee to guide the project. The steering committee will be made up of industry experts, training providers and the union.
Stage 2
1 July to 31 December 2024
During this stage work will begin on designing a draft training product. Stakeholders will be consulted on the concepts.
Stage 3
1 January to 30 June 2025
The training program will be built and tested with stakeholders. A final report will be produced to outline the findings of the pilot, including recommendations and next steps for how this induction training program could be rolled out for other industries. The Steering Committee will sign off on the final model.
The Agricultural Workforce Working Group (AWWG) highlighted the importance of safety and proposed a pilot safety induction program for the meat processing industry, to support training delivery and consider whether the developed resources could be shared across other sectors.
The meat industry has been chosen to pilot the development of such a program, with the purpose of providing foundational capabilities in safety for workers entering the industry. A steering committee made up of industry experts, training providers and the union has been established to help guide the project.
The project team is currently undertaking desktop research into how safety induction is currently managed in the meat industry, as well as national training programs used in other industries. We are also investigating options for integrating simulated learning into the proposed training program.
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If you would like to receive updates about this project, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘meat processing’ as one of your industries of interest.
Online consultation session
6 June, via MS Teams
A consultation session was run to collect stakeholder input on what a national safety induction program could look like, using the meat industry as a pilot. It followed an initial session held by MINTRAC with subject matter experts earlier in the month.
Next steps
Further consultation will take place to develop a draft training product, which stakeholders will be invited to provide feedback on.
Findings from desktop research and stakeholder consultation will help inform a report proposing how the training program could be developed. This will be submitted to the Department of Employment and Workforce Relations for approval to develop the training program.
If you would like to be involved in this project, please get in touch with the project manager, Mick Crouch [email protected] or subscribe to our newsletter above.
In response to a meeting of the Agriculture Workforce Working Group in March 2023, the meat industry was selected to pilot a worker safety induction program to equip entrants to the industry with the necessary safety skills.
As part of Stage 3 of the project, work was undertaken to develop simulated learning modules. After each module was developed it underwent a testing process, including review by the project steering committee.
Modules were filmed on the following topics:
- workplace health and safety overview
- traffic management
- hygiene
- work hardening
- hazards and risks
- follow safe work policies and procedures
- workplace behaviour.
Subscribe for updates
If you would like to receive updates about this project, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘meat processing’ as one of your industries of interest.
If you would like to be part of this project, please get in touch with the project lead, Mick Crouch: mcrouch [at] mintrac.com.au
Timeline
Stage 1 – 30 November 2023 to 30 June 2024
Stage 1 involved establishing an industry steering committee to guide the project, and research to understand current safety induction practices and resources.
Stage 2 – 1 July to 31 December 2024
Stage 2 begins design of the worker safety induction program and selection of vendor for simulated learning.
Stage 3 – 1 January to 30 June 2025
Stage 3 involves building and testing the safety induction program with stakeholders and producing a report to outline findings and recommendations of the pilot, including advice for implementation across other agricultural industries. The Steering Committee will sign off on the final model.
Project Team
Mick Crouch
Project Lead
MINTRAC
mcrouch[at]mintrac.com.au
Danielle Webster
Project Officer
MINTRAC
daniellew[at]mintrac.com.au
Previous stages
Stage 1
Starting in November 2023, the project team researched how safety induction is currently managed in the meat processing industry and other industries’ national safety programs, as well as options for integrating simulated learning into a safety induction program.
A Steering Committee of industry stakeholders was also established to guide the project.
Following this, two consultation workshops were held to collect stakeholder insights about current safety induction methods, content to include in the proposed program, and any potential risks.
In consultation with the Steering Committee, the project team developed the concept of the safety induction program and explored potential vendors.
A report outlining these activities and future plans for the project was submitted and approved by DEWR before commencement of stage 2.
Stage 2
From August to September, the project team and steering committee evaluated several training program development agencies with immersive technology expertise, after a request for quotes was sent out.
Two ‘Broad Consultation’ sessions were held in August, to discuss the proposed safety induction program with stakeholders and observe demonstrations by potential vendors for the simulated learning element of the program. Following these sessions, an agency called Virtually There was selected to co-design the safety induction program.
In October, the project team and the steering committee met with Virtually There to storyboard the program for the meat processing industry.
In November, a final steering committee meeting took place to finalise stage 2 and start planning stage 3.
Consultation took place throughout this project to inform the development of a worker safety induction program for the meat industry. This included developing simulated learning modules and testing the modules with the project steering committee.
Modules were filmed on the following topics:
- workplace health and safety overview
- traffic management
- hygiene
- work hardening
- hazards and risks
- follow safe work policies and procedures
- workplace behaviour.
A final report has been produced outlining findings and recommendations, including advice for program implementation. The report also contains key recommendations from the steering committee, including:
The report has been submitted to the Department of Employment and Workforce Relations (DEWR) for consideration. It will be made available on this webpage shortly.
Subscribe for updates
If you would like to receive updates about this project, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘meat processing’ as one of your industries of interest.
Next steps
The program will be launched and an adoption strategy will be implemented by Skills Insight and MINTRAC, with support sought from and other key industry stakeholders.
More information will be provided on this webpage as it is available.
This Skills Insight JSC project is being managed with the support of MINTRAC as part of their collaborative partnership with Skills Insight. MINTRAC has a strong history working with the Australian meat processing industry on skills and training solutions and have been engaged by Skills Insight to deliver this project in partnership.
