Our first publicity, reprinted from Farming Ahead -Online Farmers families get peace of mind through app 1 Nov 13 FARMERS often have to spend long hours away from their families, particularly during harvest. It would not be unreasonable for families to be worried for their wellbeing from time to time – if they were supposed to be back an hour ago, has something gone wrong? Now there is a personal safety app that will help give peace of mind to the families of farmers who spend large amounts of time working alone. The app, SafeItUp, combines a unique check-in feature with easy to access help and emergency alerts, so that farmers who may become ill or injured while working have a way of alerting their families straight away. Lead Dog Australia, based in Melbourne, is the company releasing the app. Company spokesman Glenn Daley says that simple farm accidents that can result in tragic circumstances could often be avoided if those who were ill or injured had a way of alerting their family members immediately. “Farmers spend lots of time working alone, and often in potentially dangerous situations when using heavy machinery and farm equipment. If something goes wrong, and the farmer in unable to move or drive, it can be hours before they’re noticed missing,” Daley said. SafeItUp can be set up on farmer’s mobile phones or tablets and then prompt them to “check in” on a regular basis. If they miss or are unable to check in an alert will be sent to their families and will let them know where they are. The app can be set to either send a ‘safe’ alert when checking in, or only to send ‘missed’ alerts whenever a check in is missed. It also features easy to use ‘help’ and ‘emergency’ alert buttons so if someone becomes incapacitated they can let friends and family know with a push of a button that they need help. Daley, whose parents own a property near Cowra NSW says that his family are very aware of the potential dangers farmers face. “Dad spends a lot of time driving trucks or working the farm by himself and there’s been occasions where he’s injured himself and we didn’t know until later that day. It was lucky that on these occasions he’s been able to make his way home or to place where he could get further assistance. Nearly everyone in the country knows of someone who wasn’t so lucky,” Daley said. A 2013 report by Safe Work Australia said that over the eight years from July 1 2003 to June 30 2011, 356 workers died while working on a farming property. This is 17% of all worker fatalities. Nearly one-third of the worker fatalities on farms were workers aged 65 years or over. Incidents involving vehicles accounted for 71% of fatalities on farms. Tractors were involved in 93 (26%) farm deaths, aircraft were involved in 48 (13%), light vehicles were involved in 28 (8%) and quad bikes were involved in 27 (8%). Of the incidents that did not involve a vehicle the most common involved being hit or bitten by an animal (18) and falling from a horse (11). There were also 9 fatal shootings while workers were attempting to remove vermin from around properties or destroying farm animals. “A survey of Agriculture workers in 2009–10 found 17, 400 had incurred a work-related injury or illness in the previous 12 months,” Daley said. “The app has much wider application than just for farmers. “Parents concerned for their children’s safety, elderly people living alone, people on blind/first dates, tradies working alone on building sites, or adventure sport enthusiasts can all use it to check in with someone and let them know that they’re ok. If they miss a check in SafeItUp will automatically send an alert to the selected contacts showing the location the time the check-in was missed.” The app is only available on IOS platforms, but will be available on Android by the end of November.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 20:56:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015