AS a youngster, Mogendoura’s Charlie Welch thought skin cancer was something you got at the beach.
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“I only ever associated melanoma with going to the beach, or with walking around without your shirt on,” the 57-year-old cattle farmer said.
“Back in the 1980s, it did not really sink in.”
Today, after having several suspicious growths burned or cut out from his face and hands, Mr Welch is older and wiser.
“I am always getting skin cancers cut off and going to the doctor every 12 months,” he said.
“I have been doing that now for about five years”.
The loss of a neighbouring farmer to skin cancer was added warning.
“I am aware of what it can do if you don’t look after it,” he said.
“If you overlook it, something you think could be minor could turn nasty in a short time.”
With a herd of Murray Grey-cross-Limousine to care for, Mr Welch now steels himself against sunburn.
He’s adopted a WorkCover NSW suggestion to install a steel-framed sun shelter over his main cattle race, and the agency is encouraging other South Coast farmers to follow suit.
“When it is hot, it is stinking hot and this improves working conditions through summer time,” Mr Welch said.
“Normally if we bring the cattle in for drenching, vaccinating etc, it is a day’s job.
“I might be bringing in 70 cows, ten at a time, and you are out there in the heat with the flies.”
Mr Welch said the new shelter had reduced flies, as well as his sun exposure, and also let him continue work through summer thunderstorms.
“It is much less stressful,” he said, for both man and beast.
“It is now a nicer work zone.
“If I have cows with calves who scour (succumb to gastric infection), they have a bit of protection in summer time.”
The shelter cost $2500 and Mr Wech qualified for a rebate from WorkCover.
He also has a canopy over his tractor to protect himself during slashing.
WorkCover spokesman Peter Dunphy said agriculture contributed $11.7 billion to the NSW economy, but was also one its highest-risk industries.
He said the industry recorded 5465 injuries and illnesses, including seven fatalities over the three years to July 2012.
“This includes 506 injury claims in the Illawarra and south east,” he said.
