Farm safety calendar competition winners revealed

Twelve Queensland kids have been selected as the winners of the 2023 Farm safety calendar competition.

Their creations have been incorporated as the artwork for each month in next year’s calendar, which Queenslanders can order for free from the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) website.

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said WSHQ was inundated with 1,500 entries from budding young artists this year.

“The Farm safety calendar competition is a great way to get kids from all over Queensland thinking about safety at home and in their classrooms,” Ms Grace said.

“It gives primary school students the opportunity to help spread the word about how to stay safe on farms and rural properties, protecting our great lifestyle.

“Jobs in agriculture are great jobs that provide better services to Queenslanders, and we want to make sure the message is out there: be safe on farms.

“The standard of artwork over the years has been fantastic, and the latest edition of the calendar is no exception.

“The competition is a lot of fun, but the safety messages are serious. The agriculture industry employs around three per cent of Queensland workers but accounts for more than 30 per cent of workplace deaths.

“The 2023 calendar includes creative and colourful illustrations about electrical safety, animal safety, tractor and machinery safety, quad bike safety, water safety and general health and wellbeing.

“The 12 winners will each receive a $250 Visa gift voucher, plus another $500 for their school, with their artwork and safety messages featuring in the calendar.”

30,000 free copies of the 2023 Farm safety calendar will be available for Queenslanders in October.

Koby Bordic, a Year 3 student at Minimbah State School in Morayfield, highlighted animal safety and proper handwashing in his winning entry, which will be featured as the calendar’s May artwork.

“It’s fantastic to be a winner in this competition!” Koby said.

“I know that the school will use the money to help provide more shade for our school chickens. We all love spending time with the chooks as they are so calming and so the extra shade seems like a great use of the prize money.”

Member for Morayfield, Mark Ryan, said it was great to have a winner of the Farm safety calendar competition from his local community.

“The whole Minimbah State School community should be very proud of Koby’s achievement,” Mr Ryan said.

“I hope they enjoy having the Farm safety calendar hung up in their classrooms and think about safety every time they see one.”

You can order your free 2023 Farm safety calendar here and check out the winning artwork for each month here.

Winners of the 2023 Farm safety calendar competition:

ENDS

Media contact:

Minister Grace: Bryce Heaton 0434 575 237

Office of Industrial Relations: 0478 332 200