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Describe and maintain health and safety in an agricultural contracting workplace

Level / 2
Credits / 4

PurposePeople credited with this unit standard are able to: describe requirements for health and safety in agricultural contracting workplaces; identify and control hazards in an agricultural contracting workplace; describe procedures for agricultural contracting workplace near hits, accidents, emergencies, and serious harm; maintain and monitor safety at an agricultural contracting workplace; and describe environmental safety associated with agricultural contracting.

Subfield / Rural Contracting
Domain / Agricultural Contracting
Status / Registered
Status date / 25 June 2007
Date version published / 25 June 2007
Planned review date / 31 December 2012
Entry information / Open.
Accreditation / Evaluation of documentation by NZQA and industry.
Standard setting body (SSB) / Infrastructure ITO
Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP) reference / 0101

This AMAP can be accessed at

Special notes

1The following legislation and requirements apply to this unit standard:

Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSE Act);

Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995;

Resource Management Act 1991;

Territorial authority and/or regional council (TA/RC) requirements;

Guidelines for the Provision of Safety, Health and Accommodation in Agriculture (Wellington: Department of Labour, 1996), available from

Company health and safety plan;

Company emergency response plan.

Other requirements applicable to this unit standard may include but are not limited to:

NZS 8409:2004 Management of agrichemicals, available from

Any legislation or other requirement superseding any of the above will apply, pending review of this unit standard.

2Assessment against this unit standard must be based on evidence from a workplace context.

3Definitions

Agricultural contracting may include agrichemical application.

Company requirementsrefer to all policies, procedures, and methodologies the candidate’s organisation has in place including but not limited to those relating to health, safety, environment, quality, and operations.

Emergency response plan refers to the emergency response plan the candidate’s organisation has in place.

Health and safety plan refers to the health and safety plan the candidate’s organisation has in place and includes accident response procedures.

Near hit is an accident or an incident that does not result in a reportable/serious harm injury.

Elements and performance criteria

Element 1

Describe requirements for health and safety in agricultural contracting workplaces.

Performance criteria

1.1Requirements for health and safety in agricultural contracting workplaces are described in terms of employer and employee responsibilities, rights, and obligations.

Rangeincludes but is not limited to – pre-employment medical, safety inspections, preventative maintenance programme, first aid provisions.

1.2Description identifies legislative requirements for health and safety in agricultural contracting workplaces in terms of their general aims and objectives.

Rangeincludes but is not limited to – principles of HSE Act, statutory regulations, Occupational Safety and Health Service policy.

1.3Description of agricultural contracting workplace health and safety preventative requirements concurs with company requirements.

Rangeobedience to company health and safety rules, signs, and instructions; following documented work procedures; use and storage of safety items; displaying signs for hazardous materials; keeping clear of moving parts; lockout procedure; working on slopes; working on unstable ground; checking, cleaning, and non-technical maintenance of vehicles and/or machinery and/or equipment; reporting faults in vehicles and/or machinery and/or equipment.

1.4Description identifies personal safety clothing and equipment required for agricultural contracting operations.

Rangeoperations include tractor operation and at least two of – tree felling, river work, agrichemical application, verge mowing, hedge trimming, cultivation, harvesting.

1.5Description identifies the physical placement of resources to facilitate and support accident prevention in accordance with company requirements.

Element 2

Identify and control hazards in an agricultural contracting workplace.

Performance criteria

2.1Hazards that occur in agricultural contracting work places are identified as hazards or significant hazards as defined in the HSE Act.

Rangesix hazards, at least two of which could be defined as significant.

2.2Hazards of a specific workplace are identified in accordance with the health and safety plan.

2.3Control procedures for identified hazards are described in accordance with the health and safety plan.

2.4Hazards identified as significant (in terms of the HSE Act) are controlled in accordance with the health and safety plan.

2.5Hazard avoidance is described in terms of housekeeping practices in a specific workplace.

Rangeincludes but is not limited to – fire prevention, equipment maintenance, storage of equipment and materials.

Element 3

Describe procedures for agricultural contracting workplace near hits, accidents, emergencies, and serious harm.

Performance criteria

3.1Procedures for near hits are explained in accordance with the HSE Act.

Rangeincludes but is not limited to restrictions on moving equipment.

3.2Accident and emergency procedures are described in accordance with the health and safety and emergency response plans.

Rangeindividual and group responsibilities;

procedures for – responding to emergencies, motor vehicle crash, environmental spillage, accidents that result in harm, accidents that could have resulted in harm, using fire extinguisher.

3.3Reporting of accidents and serious harm is described in accordance with the requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Service of the Department of Labour.

Element 4

Maintain and monitor safety at an agricultural contracting workplace.

Performance criteria

4.1Personal protective equipment is selected and worn for specified jobs in accordance with manufacturer’s and company requirements.

Rangemay include but is not limited to – overalls, wet weather gear, hard hat, safety glasses, earmuffs, face shield, breathing apparatus, safety vest, sun protection, gloves, safety footwear.

4.2Workplace protection is maintained in accordance with the health and safety plan.

Rangeincludes – base site or depot, work site.

4.3Accident and emergency procedures, including the use of specialist equipment and alternative access for emergency services, are demonstrated in accordance with the health and safety and emergency response plans.

Rangeincludes but is not limited to – fire, flood, landslide, chemical spillage, injury to personnel, traffic.

Element 5

Describe environmental safety associated with agricultural contracting.

Performance criteria

5.1Environmental protection that applies to agricultural contracting operations is described in terms of the Resource Management Act and TA/RC requirements.

5.2Agricultural contracting operations are described in terms of their potential to pollute the environment.

Rangeincludes but is not limited to the release of – fumes, liquid.

5.3Strategies for protecting the environment are described in accordance with company requirements and/or NZS 8409.

5.4Methods of containment, collection, and waste disposal are described in accordance with applicable requirements.

Rangeapplicable requirements may include but are not limited to – Resource Management Act, TA/RC requirements, company requirements, NZS 8409.

Please note

Providers must be accredited by NZQA, or an inter-institutional body with delegated authority for quality assurance, before they can report credits from assessment against unit standards or deliver courses of study leading to that assessment.

Industry Training Organisations must be accredited by NZQA before they can register credits from assessment against unit standards.

Accredited providers and Industry Training Organisations assessing against unit standards must engage with the moderation system that applies to those standards.

Accreditation requirements and an outline of the moderation system that applies to this standard are outlined in the Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP). The AMAP also includes useful information about special requirements for organisations wishing to develop education and training programmes, such as minimum qualifications for tutors and assessors, and special resource requirements.

Comments on this unit standard

Please contact Infrastructure if you wish to suggest changes to the content of this unit standard.

 New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2018