Growing a Safety Culture: The Mechanisms of an Industry-Led Safety Learning Network Pilot in Horticulture.
Oxford S, Blair A, Nettle R.
Farmworker Safety
The farms producing your fresh fruits and vegetables carry some of the highest injury rates in any industry, and the workers who grow that food often lack basic protections—this research tests a new model for actually changing that.
Horticulture farms are dangerous places to work, with lots of hazards and workers who are often seasonal migrants who don't speak the local language. Government inspectors and safety pamphlets haven't solved the problem. This study followed a pilot where farmers learned from each other in a trusted network rather than from regulators, and found that this peer-based approach shifted attitudes and some on-farm behaviors—though it's expensive to run and harder to scale.
Key Findings
Three interrelated mechanisms drove engagement: building farmer-to-leader trust, delivering practical and tailored on-farm support, and providing credible legal and industry expertise.
All 10 participating farm managers and owners demonstrated measurable shifts in safety attitude and personal accountability over the course of the pilot.
Observable changes in worker safety behavior were documented on only some farms, and the study lacked independent outcome measures (e.g., injury or insurance-claims data) to confirm broader impact.
chevron_right Technical Summary
An Australian pilot program tested whether an industry-led Safety Learning Network could improve safety culture on horticulture farms—workplaces with high injury risk and limited success from traditional regulation. Trust-building, practical support, and credible expertise were the key mechanisms that shifted attitudes among farm managers, though evidence of lasting impact remains thin.
Abstract Preview
<h4>Objectives</h4>Horticulture farms are high-risk, hard-to-reach workplaces where regulatory and education-based safety interventions often fail to achieve lasting impact. Challenges arise from m...
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