OHS Implications of Agvet Chemical Regulation

Abstract

This research critically examines current OHS policy/regulation as it relates to use of agricultural chemicals. We argue that the current regulatory system is inappropriate and that the problem must be viewed in a community, public health and environmental, rather than merely a workplace, context. This involves taking account of powerful market drivers such as supply chain pressures, technological developments, and the ongoing restructuring of agriculture and rural society. From a normative perspective, we consider how these forces might be shaped by government policy and civil society, and we identify points of policy leverage. Our empirical focus is on Australia, a country with a substantial agricultural sector, and (in many other respects) one which is quite advanced in how it deals with OHS issues. However we argue that Australia, in common with many other countries, has failed to deal effectively with important dimensions of the agricultural chemicals challenge. In particular, a number of policy strategies it shares with other developed industrial nations, while achieving positive results in other areas of OHS, are ill-suited to address agricultural chemical safety in the economic and structural circumstances confronting agriculture globally. Many of the challenges encountered by Australian policymakers, and their likely resolution, are mirrored elsewhere, and the issues we raise, and the solutions we propose, may have resonance for a range of other developed countries. Sections 2 - 4 of this paper outline the current regulatory framework and its limitations. In sections 5 – 7 we argue for the importance of harnessing the potential of new pest control technologies and the impact of market forces to influence farmers’ pest control practices and improve agricultural OHS more generally. Finally in section 8 we explore the current and potential role of civil society in changing agvet chemical policy and practice and the ways in which the required changes can piggy-back off those needed to ensure food and environmental safety. Show more