Tuesday, 21 July 2026

“The risky moments rarely feel risky at the time”

Young bull handler urges farmers not to overlook the simple things.

It's rarely the jobs that look dangerous that catch people out.

According to Queensland Farm Hand Sophie Halliday, it's the everyday tasks people have done hundreds of times before that deserve the most attention.

This National Farm Safety Week, Ms Halliday is asking Australian farmers to remember that the simplest safety habits often make the biggest difference, because complacency can creep into even the most familiar jobs.

"The risky moments rarely feel risky at the time," Ms Halliday said. "That's usually when things go wrong."

Working with thousands of bulls at a Chinchilla bull depot, Ms Halliday knows the importance of staying alert every single day.

"When you're working with bulls, you've always got to be aware," she said.

"They're big, they're unpredictable and they can misbehave, so you can never assume today's going to be the same as yesterday."

Having grown up on farms, Ms Halliday said many of her most important safety lessons came from watching the people around her.

"I've been doing this my whole life. I grew up watching my parents work," she said. "Watching them taught me that it's the simple things that keep you safe."

Rather than focusing on complicated safety systems, Ms Halliday believes everyday habits shape the strongest safety cultures.

"What we do every day sets the standard," she said.

"It's simple things like wearing a helmet, putting on a seatbelt and making sure everyone around you is doing the same."

She said those visible behaviours mattered because they became habits that protected people when the unexpected happened.

"The moment we stop paying attention is usually when things go wrong," she said.

"Looking back, we've all had moments where we think, 'I probably should have done that a better way.'"

"For me, it was rushing a job because I wanted to get away for the weekend. Thankfully nothing happened, but it reminded me how quickly pressure can influence good decisions."

Ms Halliday hopes more people entering agriculture will see safety as part of being a good farmer, not something separate from the job.

Safer Farms, Safer Farmers