How to warn everyone about a temporary hazard on your orchard

To warn everyone about a hazard that is only there for a few days, put one short notice where people see it before they go in, say exactly what it covers and when it ends, and tell the people already on site by the method you agreed with them. Then take the notice down when the hazard is gone, and keep a record of what you said and when.

This guide applies to any orchard crop. The examples are a spray in progress, a flooded track, a damaged bridge and a pest alert. It is a set of practical prompts, not an official procedure.

Who decides a temporary hazard needs a notice?

Decide this before the first one happens. The person who runs the site, or the person responsible for the work that creates the hazard, should have the call. For a spray, that is the person responsible for the spray work. Name one person and a back-up, and write down who can start a notice, who can end it, and how they reach people working on site.

WorkSafe's contractors on farms fact sheet says farmers and contractors must work together to meet their overlapping duties every time a contractor comes on farm. Its checklist asks whether you have told contractors about expected or unexpected risks and other work on the farm that could pose a risk to them. It also suggests contractors let the farmer know about changes in their work that may create additional risks. A temporary hazard can start on either side, so agree how each of you will pass it on.

What is the difference between a temporary hazard and the standing hazard register?

A standing hazard is always part of the orchard: a steep block, overhead lines, a blind corner, the chemical store. It belongs in your hazard register and your site induction, where people see it every time and where you review the controls on a schedule. The free orchard hazard register template is a starting point for that list.

A temporary hazard is only there for days or weeks, and people who know the orchard would not expect it. Put it where it stands out, and take it out when it is resolved. If the same hazard keeps coming back every season, such as a low crossing that floods, it is probably a standing hazard. Move it into the register and the induction.

How do I write a hazard notice people can read on a phone in sunlight?

Assume the reader is standing at the gate, squinting, with one hand free. Keep the title short enough to read without scrolling.

• Say what and where in the title. "Spray in progress, Block 4" or "Back track flooded, use the main track" works. "Important site update" does not.
• Put the action first. "Do not enter Block 4" is clearer than a paragraph about why.
• Say who it affects. All visitors, or only people working in one block.
• Name a contact. Who can confirm whether it still applies.

The same goes for a sign: large lettering, one message, no jargon.

How do I say when a temporary hazard notice applies?

Put the time in the words people read. "Spray in progress until 3pm Fri" tells a visitor something that "Spray in progress" does not. A notice with no time forces everyone to guess, and the usual guess is that it is old.

If the hazard has a start as well as an end, give both. If you do not know the end, say so and say who will update it, for example "Bridge closed until the engineer has checked it. Ask the orchard manager."

For a spray, never state a re-entry time from memory or from the weather. Re-entry information is on the product label, and the person responsible for the spray work can confirm the area and the current instructions.

How do I stop an urgent notice going stale?

A notice that has been up for three weeks teaches people to ignore it, and the next one gets ignored too. Set an end when you write it.

• Set a date to look at it again, even if you do not know when the hazard will clear. A pest alert or a damaged bridge may run for weeks, so decide when you will check whether it still applies.
• Give it an owner. The person who started it is usually the person who ends it.
• Keep one urgent notice at a time where you can. If everything is urgent, nothing is.

How do I take a temporary hazard notice down when it is resolved?

Take it down as soon as the hazard is resolved, and check that the physical sign has gone too. Someone with the authority to say so should confirm it is clear, not assume it. For a spray, that is the person responsible for the spray work, working from the product label.

Then tell people it has ended, in the same way you told them it started. Otherwise they will keep avoiding a track that has reopened.

How do I warn people who are already on site, as well as people arriving?

These are two different jobs.

People arriving can be told at the gate, through a sign, a briefing or your sign-in page. This is the easy half.

People already working have passed the gate. A notice at the gate does not reach them. You need the method you agreed with that crew or contractor when they started, such as a phone call, a radio message or someone going out to speak to them. Ask the contractor to confirm that the message reached their team, and write down who confirmed.

WorkSafe's contractor checklist also asks for a back-up plan if there is no phone coverage, so check your method works where the block has no signal. For more on briefing contractors, see summer orchard access.

Do physical signs still matter?

Yes. A notice on a phone does not replace a sign at the gate, on the track or beside the hazard. Anyone who does not scan or read it will not see the digital one. Put a physical sign where someone would meet the hazard, check it after wind and rain, and remove it when the hazard is resolved.

How do I keep a record of what was shown and when?

Record enough to answer a later question: what hazard, what notice, who decided, when it started, when it ended, and how people on site were told.

WorkSafe's contractor checklist asks whether you made a note of what you told contractors, for example in the farm diary. A diary entry is enough if it has the date, the wording and who was told. If you use a sign-in system, check that it records which version of a document each person was shown. What to record when visitors and contractors sign in covers this. A record shows what you communicated, not that everyone understood it or that the hazard was controlled.

What about spray notices?

Spray work is a common example of a temporary hazard. Confirm the area and instructions with the person responsible for the spray work, and use the product label for re-entry. Spray records for NZ orchards covers the records side.

For kiwifruit, Zespri's agrichemical planning guidance says spray contractors get a job sheet from the grower for each application, and that the job sheet should cover who will be notified and how. It also says to know the re-entry periods for the products used (it points to the label) and to make sure re-entry signage is used on the orchard when required. It does not set the timing or method of notification. Check what applies to your crop, products and operation.

Where GateBud fits

GateBud™ lets visitors and contractors scan a site QR code and check in on their phone. You can mark one document on a site as urgent from the site page in Sites & check-in: tap the warning triangle on the document's row, then Mark urgent. See how a site's documents work.

At check-in, the urgent document is pinned above the others in an amber card with an Urgent tag. It is read and acknowledged like any other document. You can run it until you turn it off, or until the end of a New Zealand day you choose, after which it goes back to its usual place by itself.

Visitors are never shown the last day. If they need to know the timing, put it in the document's title or text, such as "Spray in progress until 3pm Fri". A site has one urgent document at a time. Marking another replaces the first.

It is a document pinned at the gate for people arriving. It is not a hazard register, an alarm, or a message pushed to people already working. People on site still need your agreed phone, radio or in-person method. GateBud does not work out re-entry times, and a check-in does not prove the work is safe to start.

Growing kiwifruit? See GateBud for kiwifruit orchards.

Sources

Sources checked on 9 November 2026. These are practical prompts to adapt, not an official form or a complete safety plan. WorkSafe's fact sheet is dated October 2016 and marked as current until review in 2018, so treat it as long-standing guidance and check WorkSafe for anything newer.

• WorkSafe New Zealand, Contractors on farms (fact sheet, October 2016), including its checklists for farmers and contractors.
• Zespri, Agrichemical Understanding & Planning, for the kiwifruit-specific section.