MEDIA RELEASE
Cool Rooms/Cherry Picker Safety Project
Fruit Growers Victoria with funding from the Victorian Government’s ‘Farming Safe and Well Program’, is excited to announce the release of their newest safety and training project.
“We are thankful for receiving the generous grant from the department to work on the identified priorities - Cherry pickers and Cold-rooms have been particular points of concern for safety in the industry. We hope this training material can provide support for supervisors to improve the safe, appropriate use of these tools in the workplace.”
“Underlying our project was improvement for safety, and accessibility of information and training for the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse community who make up a significant part of our local agriculture workforce. We engaged with community representatives, to provide advice, and audio recording to ensure that as many people as possible could access the training, regardless of their English skills.”
- Project Coordinator Rowan Farren
Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence emphasised that safety is essential to the long-term sustainability and productivity of Victoria’s fruit industry.
“Fruit growers work with heavy machinery, handle insecticides, and operate complex equipment, all of which can pose serious risks if not managed safely,” she said.
“These training videos are a vital tool to help prevent workplace accidents and represent just one of the many steps we’re taking to make Victorian farms safer for everyone involved.”
- Grower Services Manager Michael Crisera “It’s been great to partner with Agriculture Victoria, WorkSafe and our Growers to produce videos on two key parts of our industry - cherry pickers and cool rooms, hopefully there are more opportunities to build our library of safety materials for our members, especially resources that are multi-lingual.”
Public access of the materials can be found on the Fruit Growers Victoria website, with translated materials into the five priority languages being available for audio and subtitles.
Media Inquiries can be directed to:
Fruit Growers Victoria
58253700
DOWNLOAD FGV MEDIA RELEASE: Cool Rooms/Cherry Picker Safety Project PDF
