Matt and Alli Reid - Otway Milk

Introducing Matt and Alli

As part of our 'It's never you, until it is' campaign, Matt and Alli Reid share their story about developing a positive safety culture on-farm and the flow-on benefits for their business.

Matt and Alli Reid run Otway Milk, a dairy farm of roughly 700 cattle on their 1700-acre property in Carlisle River, Victoria. The couple have five full-time workers year-round.

"We've got to a point with our safety meetings where everyone is willing to talk and willing to listen. No one is afraid to speak up and say when something is not quite right - not only to us, but to each other." Alli said.

Matt Reid grew up on a dairy farm in Rochester, northern Victoria; while Alli grew up in town and began her professional life with a retail traineeship. As a pair leading Otway Milk, Matt and Alli bring different backgrounds and two different sets of skills to the operation.

Matt was always fascinated with on-farm operations and took up a role in his parents' farm after leaving school, while Alli studied a Diploma of Human Resources with Dairy Australia to take up a people management role on-farm.

OHS Essentials

When deciding on their first steps towards improving safety, the Reids reached out to Dairy Australia and later WorkSafe's independent Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Essentials program to help guide their safety journey.

"One of the things we've learned along the way is that not everything has to cost money. There are lots of examples where all it has cost is a five-minute conversation to find a better way."
Matt Reid

Adopted from Dairy Australia, the Reids introduced a traffic light system for safety on-farm and came to understand how their own actions impact the culture of the farm.

"One of the traffic light systems asked if all employees wore a helmet. It was discovered at that time that Matt didn't." Alli said.

"The message it was sending to our employees was a bad one." Matt said.

"Matt's just as important as an employee and we all need to be in this together." said Alli.

After working with Dairy Australia and the free OHS Essentials program, the Reids now engage a private consultant who has given them the confidence they’re doing everything they can to keep everyone safe on-farm.

"We introduced safety meetings as a separate item on our calendar from regular staff meetings. We discuss with our workers what they think are the most pressing safety concerns on our farm." Alli said.

Matt and Alli credit their farm's remarkable staff retention rate in large part to their positive safety culture. This retention rate includes employees who have remained in their roles for 10 and 15 years.

"If we think about how we built our safety culture it really comes down to communication. Without strong communication with your employees, you really don't have anything." Matt said.

"We've got to a point with our safety meetings where everyone is willing to talk and willing to listen. No one is afraid to speak up and say when something is not quite right – not only to us, but to each other."
Alli Reid

Matt and Alli understand that incidents on-farm have long term consequences for everyone involved, not just the person who is injured.

"If I was involved in a serious incident on-farm, it would have a lifelong effect on whoever it is that finds me. And that's not something that I want for anybody." Matt said.