Farm Safety Calendar competition closing soon

With a closing date of Friday 24 June, time is running out for Queensland primary school students to enter the Farm Safety Calendar competition.

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace urged budding Queensland artists to show off their talents and deliver important safety messages for those who live and work on the land.

“It’s about getting creative to help save lives on farms,” Ms Grace said.

“The masterpieces by our 12 winning creators go into the 2023 calendar to be displayed in homes and workplaces across the state as a year-round reminder to work and play safely on farms.

“It’s a fun competition but a serious message. The agriculture industry employs around three per cent of Queensland’s workers but accounts for more than 30 per cent of workplace deaths.

“This gets kids thinking about and advocating for their own and their parents’ safety from a young age – and as we all know, they can be very persistent and persuasive once they’ve set their minds on something!”

Primary school students are encouraged to use their artistic flair to illustrate important safety messages about electricity, animals, tractors and machinery, quad bikes, water or general health and wellbeing.

The winners receive a $250 gift voucher and $500 for their school, which is exactly what happened when Durong South State School student Charlee Nicol entered last year.

The prep student’s drawing and message about sun safety was selected for February in the 2022 calendar.

Durong is a small town in the South Burnett Region about 90km north-west of Kingaroy with a population of just a couple of hundred people.

Considering there are only 28 students enrolled in two multi-age classrooms at Durong South State School, Principal Delicia McDonald is particularly proud of Charlee’s effort.

“Charlee was extremely excited and could not believe it when she was told she’d won,” Mrs McDonald said.

“We approached the Farm Safety Calendar competition as a whole of school project – being a rural school the messages ring true across our entire community.

“Highlighting the farm safety messages is particularly important in our rural communities, building a sense of care for one another and safe practices in every part of life,” she said.

The popular competition has been running since 2015 and almost 8,500 Queensland kids have entered over those seven years. The winners in the 2022 calendar were selected from more than 1900 entries, sent in from 126 schools the length and breadth of the state.

Entries close on Friday 24 June, with the winners to be announced in October. Once printed, 30,000 copies of the free calendar will be distributed around the state.

More information is at Worksafe.qld.gov.au

ENDS

Media contact: Kate Talbot, 0439 803 211