Dr. David Meredith:

The work I do is around statistical analysis of the trends we see with regard to farm fatalities with the objective of getting a much greater understanding of what is driving these trends. While we have been doing this for a number of years, taking the period since 2008, the number of fatalities is above the long-term average and the increase has been driven by a growing number of deaths among the population aged between 45 and 64 years. This is 57% above its long-term average, which equates to three additional deaths per year. This is most likely driven by increases in the size of that population and the amount of work that population is engaged in. The population aged between 45 and 64 years is growing as a consequence of farm succession issues. People are inheriting farms when they are in their late 40s or early 50s. Those who had been working off-farm and lost their jobs during the recession have returned to working on the farm. There has been much farm expansion in recent years, particularly in the dairy sector, and this has resulted in an increase in the number of hours worked and, consequently, a very substantial increase in the exposure to risk. I thank the committee for its time and attention.