Thinking Safety This Crush

By Kevin Borg, Chairman, CANEGROWERS Mackay
The crush will start to roll out across the region next week, and things are getting busy across the industry. While final bolts are being tightened in what has hopefully been a very productive mill maintenance season, the community can expect to see machinery start to move around the cane rail and road network.
That can include looking out for anything from cane trains – we all know THAT jingle – to haulout tractors and trucks, to long vehicles moving cane harvesters and requiring pilot escort vehicles.
Depending on the weather, Mackay Sugar will lead out with a staggered start across the three mills, with Farleigh starting on 3 June followed by Racecourse the next day and Marian at full steam by 13 June.
Plane Creek has been delayed to 18 June from the original 11 June, as a result of industrial action in recent weeks. It is to be hoped that the parties can come to an agreement, and that the mill can perform reliably across the season after such a perilously late start.
Sugarcane is an important part of the regional economy and the region’s communities. CANEGROWERS wants to see everyone interacting with the sugar industry to get home safe every day, be it grower families, our harvest crews, mill workers, or members of the community sharing the transport networks with our industry.
Harvest season can be hectic, so we ask the community to be patient with some of our slower moving vehicles. Please don’t do the crazy dash overtake of a haulout tractor at 100km an hour on a back country road. Please don’t try to beat the loco that is approaching a crossing.
Everyone needs to be somewhere, so taking care will help all road and rail users to get where they need to, safely. As the saying goes: “better to be late than never”.
For those working the harvest, we encourage you to be mindful of all the necessary safety factors – being aware of overhead powerlines and making best use of the Ergon “Look up and Live” app; routinely thinking about always maintaining safe loading levels when filling bins, so to mitigate spillage; taking care along the roadways and in the sidings. Given the rain seems to be hanging about, we also remind driver to take great care to ensure that we do not track mud onto roadways, which creates a safety hazard for other road users.
Aside from safety CANEGROWERS Mackay has been working hard on our annual harvest labour campaign, and have just completed two Haulout Driver training courses. We are committed to industry safety and efficiency, and are proud to say that, with funding from the Queensland Government Skilling Queenslanders for Work program, we have trained 19 drivers new to the industry in basic safety and procedures, assisting them with practical experience on farm alongside theory work and Cert II Rural Operations modules. Anyone keen to take up work in the industry are welcomed to take a look at positions vacant or post work wanted on the www.mackaycanegrowers.com.au website Farm Jobs Noticeboard.
Here’s hoping for a successful - and safe - 2024 crush!

Be aware of rail crossings becoming more active
Haulout vehicles will be on the move as the crush rolls out from 28 May.
Pictures: Kirili Lamb

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